In dramatic fashion, Thomastown have booked their place in the 2024 MC Labour Division 2 finals series at the expense of St Mary’s following a 31-point triumph at Main Street Recreation Reserve.
Coming into the match, the Bears needed to prevail by roughly 4-5 goals or win by any margin and hope that Lower Plenty went down to Panton Hill, in order to rise up to fifth position by day’s end.
When the latter scenario looked out of the question early, all hope seemed lost for Thomastown when they were 35 points down late in the second quarter.
But David Folino and Sashe Spiroski’s men then went on the front foot, kicking two late majors to make it a 23-point ball game at half time, before piling on 12 of the final 16 majors of the match, which included a magical seven-goal final term.
With so much on the line, both sides found themselves in the top five for moments at a time in the last quarter, before the 16.12 (108) to 11.11 (77) scoreline resulted in the Bears booking a finals berth by just 0.59%.
It proved to be heartbreak St Mary’s, who ended their season winning just two of their final 10 matches, but fell short of back to back finals appearances by the barest of margins.
The home side’s surge came courtesy of multiple contributors, none more so than Youseph Dib, who after a quiet first half, exploded in the final two quarters with three majors and some excellent clearance work to keep pushing his team ahead.
Kyle Green, Nick Jolly, Michael Le Tang and James Lucente were all equally as imperative to the Bears’ eventual victory, kicking two majors apiece in the second half to help deliver the margin of triumph required.
Others to impress for the winning side included Jarryd Coulson, Julian Janev, Makhoul Zakkour and Aaron D’Angelo.
The Burra’s best efforts were illustrated in a dominant opening half. Rory Hanlon constantly made things happen around the ground, not only with his grunt work and efficient use of the football at stoppages, but also inside 50, where he kicked two brilliant goals in the opening quarter.
Benjamin Young was excellent in the defensive half, with his long kick out from back 50 often ensuring the ball stayed inside their forward half for the majority of the first two terms.
Co-Captain Nicholas Dean was almost the best player on the ground at the main break, flying and grabbing multiple contested marks, while always competing at every contest to keep the ball out of Thomastown’s hands.
Jack Cicitta booted a game-high four majors in a strong display inside 50 for the visitors. Two of those goals came in the final term to keep his side’s finals hopes alive.
A good start seemed required for the hosts to have the best chance of victory, but it was St Mary’s who opened the game in terrific style.
Ricky Wait began the scoring in just his fourth senior game of the season, before a Jack Cicitta set shot conversion and back-to-back majors from Rory Hanlon, the second being one of the goals of the day, suddenly saw Fabian Carelli’s men lead by 24 points.
A late captain’s goal from Anthony Capeci saw the margin at 18 points by the main break, but the Burra still had all the answers during the second quarter.
Cicitta produced a second after just a minute of play before Jeremiah Antypas found the big sticks eight minutes later to boost the lead out to 30 points.
Youseph Dib slowly started to get into the game and got Thomastown’s second goal of the game at the 12-minute mark, before Wait produced a terrific major for his second, and the away team’s seventh goal of the match.
With the margin at 35 points, it looked as through St Mary’s could do no wrong with their constant ball winning ability in the middle of the ground. But Thomastown would have the last say of the half with consecutive goals inside a minute of action to give them hope.
The hosts would pile on five straight goals in the third quarter, two of which coming from Dib, who was proving to be unstoppable at this point of the contest. The chain of goals opened with a Le Tang major, who after starting the game in the backline, drifted up forward to kick his first goal since Round 9.
It was the Bears’ pressure that was putting St Mary’s on the backfoot, as the Burra started to fumble and lose their cool, so much so, that some ill-discipline allowed the hosts to hit the front at the 20-minute mark.
Despite a great finish from Antypas to end the run, the Bears would lead by three points at three quarter time and be full of momentum.
A massive 10-goal last quarter was produced between the two sides. After the Bears got out to a 16-point advantage just three minutes into the term, back-to-back goals from Cicitta looked to play a big role in St Mary’s gaining enough breathing room to secure a finals berth.
But Thomastown came again, and three goals in four minutes pushed their lead out to 17 points approaching time on.
The victory looked secured but now it was a matter of margin. Janev found the big sticks at the 20-minute mark to push his side into the top five, before the Burra’s Jake Dambrauskas took a great contested grab and responded a minute later to swing things in the away side’s direction.
But the last major of the game would come through Nick Jolly, who’s forward presence was another factor in Thomastown’s triumph, as he slotted home his third major of the afternoon and the goal that would push the Bears into the top five.
