Reservoir bravely overcame a fourth-quarter deficit to record to an important 10-point win over St Mary’s at Whatmough Park.
Leading for the opening three quarters, the Mustangs looked in serious trouble when they fell eight points behind eight minutes into the fourth term.
However, they rallied against the home side’s momentum to kick the final three goals to register a 9.12 (66) to 7.14 (56) and take back second place on the Division 3 ladder.
Justin Kuchel was named the Narellan Pools Player of the Day following a dominant performance on the wing. Kuchel accumulated a ton of possessions through the midfield and also took a number of telling marks at both ends of the ground.
Ashley Flavel was the best forward on the ground and kicked five goals – including three in the first quarter. Flavel now has 17 goals in his past three matches against the Burra, following a five-goal haul in Round 1 and seven in last year’s first semi final.
James Ind was sensational down back for the Burra and was clearly their best in the loss. He locked down on Toby O’Meara and offered drive and penetration off the last line of the defence.
On a wet and cold day befitting of the first day of winter, the opening half of the match was a tough slog with just seven goals kicked.
Flavel booted the opening goal early in proceedings but it was quickly cancelled out by Luke Douglas who made the most of a 50m penalty.
It was the first of many undisciplined acts by the visitors in the first half, with all three of St Mary’s first half goals the result of 50m penalties or down-field free kicks.
Flavel kicked a miraculous goal – running towards the boundary and snapping it back over his shoulder – to give the Mustangs back the lead, before out-bodying Lee Minuz in a marking contest and converting with his shot to give Reservoir a 13-point quarter time lead.
The Mustangs looked like running away with the match when Kent Beaumont kicked the opening goal of the second quarter after getting on the end of a coast to coast play to extend the margin to a game-high 16 points.
However, their poor discipline cost them over the next 15 minutes. Adam Burkett won a downfield free kick and spotted up Dillan Ronalds who booted St Mary’s second goal before Scott McLaughlin kicked another from 25m following another downfield free.
Just five points separated the sides at half time and both teams missed early chances with O’Meara and Minuz both missing gettable set shots early in the third.
The Burra hit the front for the first time midway through the third quarter following their best chain of play for the afternoon. Ind streamed through half back to spot up Myles Guldon who in turn delivered beautifully to lively forward Tim Doherty.
Doherty kicked truly from 25m, however the home side’s lead was short lived. O’Meara marked strongly from Reservoir’s resulting centre clearance and kicked his only major of the day.
The game came to life in the final quarter with the sides sharing six goals in the first 10 minutes.
Doherty put the Burra in front after snapping truly 10 seconds into the term, before Flavel booted his fourth down the other end, with a snapped set shot, akin to Geelong forward Steve Johnson.
Ryan Pieper snuck forward to take a grab and convert from 30m to give the home side back the lead and the Burra looked well on the way to making it four-straight wins when Ronalds snapped through another a minute later.
Looking down and out, Reservoir showed its resilience and ability to work hard against adversity.
Marc Defelice kicked a nice running goal against the run of play to close the deficit to two points, before Beaumont marked in the goal square and booted his second to give the visitors back the lead. Flavel’s fifth followed after receiving a high tackle and kicking truly from 25m.
The final five minutes were extremely tense as St Mary’s searched desperately for two late goals – however their best opportunity was missed when Ronalds missed on the run.
Final score: St Mary’s 7.14 (56) def by Reservoir 9.12 (66)
