Border Mail Interleague – Review

In a game of see-sawing momentum, there wasn’t more than two goals between the sides until the middle of the fourth quarter, when Hume turned a 10-point deficit into a 14-point lead with four unanswered goals – including two in two minutes to Warren – and then held on grimly.

“It was a close one, it was a good contest,” coach Brent Piltz said.

“I just told the boys at the end, do it for yourselves.

“You’ve put your hands up to represent the league and you’ve done the hard work, go out and give it a crack.

“It could’ve gone either way, it to’d and fro’d a bit and it was just who made the most of momentum when they had it… I thought we just needed two or three goals to get our momentum going but to the Farrer’s credit, they didn’t let that happen.”

The victory was Piltz’s third in a row since taking over the top position from Josh Walker.

Farrer looked a little shaky in the opening exchanges, down two goals after 10 minutes.

But they found their feet to go to the first break three points up, as Curtis Steele and Mitch Haddrill provided leadership, their young guns rose to the occasion, Brad Moye opened up the opposition with speed and everyone else bought in.

Despite losing Michael Collins to an ankle in the first quarter and being down by 10 points early in the second, Hume came back for a narrow half-time lead.

By then it was clear Farrer League wasn’t going to be rattled, remaining composed when Hume threatened to get on top, and controlling the game for passages themselves.

But Sedgwick and Jordan Harrington lifted and Hume led right through the third quarter, despite Steele seemingly putting Farrer in front as the siren sounded at three-quarter-time, only to have a near-certain goal ruled touched.

The loss of Osborne defender Duncan McMaster (shoulder) hurt Hume further though and Farrer appeared ascendant.

They grabbed the first three clearances to snatch a 10-point lead.

But dominance in the middle swung back and Hume rode it to a match-winning lead.

Piltz was pleased with the ‘grit’ in his side as they defied a barnstorming Farrer finish after Steele and then skipper Brayden Ambler kicked goals to be within a point with 90 seconds to play.

“This one was a real fight, it was a real dire struggle so just the fact that they really did fight it out towards the end,” Piltz said.

“We looked a bit flat at times like the game might have been getting away from us but we kept at it.”

Sedgwick was named Hume’s best player in his rep debut while Steele won Farrer’s top gong.