Epping came from behind to defeat Heidelberg West by nine points at Heidelberg Park in an entertaining Pat Cronin Round 4 match.
Beginning the final term trailing by 11-points the Blues kept the Hawks scoreless in the last quarter while slamming on three of their own to clinch the victory.
While the goals needed to be kicked to erase the deficit, the effort of the Epping defence late in the contest was crucial. Led by Kieren Jaksic, Louis Circosta and Seb D’Arro, numerous kicks inside fifty by Heidelberg West late in the game were met with intercept marks. At other times, it was a crucial spoil or a fifty-fifty which nullified what appeared to be a good scoring chance for the home team.
“We never gave up”, said Epping coach Brad Hollow after a game where Heidelberg West appeared to be looking to cruising to a win for most of the afternoon. For the second week in a row, Hollow praised the work of captain Leigh Judd who was a vital linkman through the midfield and stood up when needed when the game was on the line.
He also gave a tick to Archer Bugden who slotted two majors, Jude Georgievski and first gamer Jace Zahra. Key forward Daniel Rakhlin had the ball in his hands when the final siren rang. With his side leading by three points, he slammed through his third major to push the final margin out to the final margin of nine points.
The Blues were often able to move the ball smoothly form half back to deep forward fifty for a score. Jake Perry came into the side and performed well through the midfield, taking a lot of marks late in the contest. Adrian Dintinosante also impressed and finished off his work with a goal. It was a great recovery from last week’s loss for the visitors, made all the more meritorious after the late withdrawal of key midfielder Brent Macaffer.
Hawks fans will rue lost opportunities to put the game away earlier in the afternoon. In particular, they dominated the second term and possibly could’ve been as much as five goals up at the main break but allowed the opposition to kick a few against the run of play to go into half time just 12 points adrift.
“We went away from our brand of footy, didn’t quite finish our opportunities and left the door open for them”, said Heidelberg West coach Michael Missen. He lauded the work of forward Bryce Barnes who hit the scoreboard as well as Lou Hill who kicked four goals on the day.
Brad Moore did well at half back for the Hawks, while ruckman Mitch Antonello was strong in the contest and booted a major. Dane Dmitrovic ran hard to intercept a mark just before the three-quarter time siren and slotted a difficult shot.
One pleasing aspect of Heidelberg West’s play was their ability to get a handball out of congestion to a player in space.
The win saw Epping climb into fifth spot on the ladder and drop the Hawks out of the top five, who missed a chance to put a two-game gap between themselves and the Blues.
