Everyone at Nagambie Recreation Reserve must have been chewing their fingernails down to the bone as the Lakers and Grasshoppers met with equal points on the ladder.
The game was touted to be a close affair but no-one could have imagined how close it would be as Nagambie pipped Murchison Toolamba.
Nagambie coach Tyrone Muir was pleased with his side’s effort in a significant match-up for the layout of the ladder.
“We’re obviously pretty happy with the result,” Muir said.
“Hopefully (we have) secured a top-two finish so that’s what we’ve been playing for all year.
“It was a really important game and to get the win was good.
“He (Nathan Fothergill ) was good and obviously a really important player for us. He and his brother Blake (Fothergill) were instrumental in the win.
“We still need to win to cement our top spot so we can’t take the game lightly. We have to go over to Avenel on the weekend and get the job done pretty much.”
The game got off to a relatively free-flowing start with both sides able to get multiple majors on the board but the Murchison-Toolamba side came into its own and outscored the home team by 15 points.
The Lakers were inaccurate in front of goal for the first two quarters as they built up a tally of eight behinds in the second spell. However, such was the state of play that Nagambie was able to win the quarter with three majors to the Grasshopers’ two.
Nine points separated the two outfits at half-time as the Lakers finally looked to be in ascendancy but the third period belonged to the Grasshoppers.
There were chances a plenty for both sides but Murchison-Toolamba’s almost perfect scoring efficiency was the difference as the side pulled out a 12-point margin.
Whatever the Nagambie coach said to his players at the final break clearly had an effect as the team found its feet in front of goal.
In a reverse of the first quarter, Nagambie doubled the Grasshoppers’ score for the quarter as the outfit kicked six goals and two behinds.
Despite having less majors on the board than their opposition, it was a case of the little things adding up and Nagambie’s behinds made the difference.
When the final siren sounded the scores were in the Lakers’ favour by a singular point — 13.14 (92) 14.7 (91).
Nathan Fothergill was the standout player for the Lakers with his three goals making the difference.
It could be argued that the man of the match was on the losing side as James Lloyd was unstoppable in front of goal, walking away with nine goals to his name.
The result sees Nagambie put a four-point gap between itself and its nearest rival on the ladder.
With one round of the regular season left against their local rivals Avenel, the Lakers will be confident that they can claim the minor premiership.
Over at Undera, Tallygaroopna ended any of the Lions hopes that the side would secure a finals berth with a convincing 10.5 (65) 27.16 (178) win.
While the win for the Roadrunners sees the side all but seal a place in the finals, Merrigum’s chances of football in September took a hit at Dookie as the home side recorded a 94-point victory.
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