By Ken Moore
LONGWARRY kept its finals hopes alive with morale-boosting 15-point home victory over Warragul Industrials on Saturday.
It was the first time the Crows have beaten a top-six side this season and by far their best performance of the year, suggesting their season’s prospects are about to take a turn for the better.
In a free-scoring first half, the Dusties started brightly and piled on five early goals to race to a 30-point lead midway through the first term.
This was before the Crows clawed their way back into the contest with six unanswered goals to set up a 10-point lead early in the second quarter.
The Industrials’ early ascendancy was generated by some fine ruck work from Ben Hobgen, strong work around the midfield by Brett Wadleton, Shane and Danny Brewster, while Adam Neal and Jamie West offered plenty of resolute defence.
Longwarry centreman Matt Campbell, ball magnet Tye Holland and speedy wingmen Brodie Rundell and Danny Wells were responsible for the Crows’ lift in form from midway through the first term.
Longwarry led by eight points at half-time and little separated the sides in the third quarter when they traded four goals apiece and the home side went in to the three-quarter-time break with a narrow six-point lead.
Fans of both sides braced themselves for what was expected to be a tension-filled last quarter, but the home side came out firing and scooted to a 25-point lead in the first six minutes.
Longwarry’s dominance was provided by the unlikely figure of Aaron Jones, an experienced player with more than 150 senior games, who has been a regular fixture in the reserves in recent seasons.
However, in the last quarter he showed he still had a lot to offer in the seniors, leading well, marking strongly and kicking accurately on three consecutive occasions to set up Longwarry’s victory.
Mercurial Industrial forward Mick Santo, well held for the majority of the game by firstly Mark Light and then Ken Towt, drilled through his second goal of the match at the eight-minute mark to keep the visitors in touch.
However, their joy quickly turned to despair at the 12-minute mark when elusive Crow forward Beau Runnalls unleashed a smart snap on goal in some heavy traffic to restore the 25-point buffer.
Warragul tried hard in the latter parts of the quarter and momentarily kept its hopes alive with a goal by Ryan Bloye before the Crows’ fourth-quarter star, Aaron Jones, stepped up once again to ice the game with his fourth major.
Santo scored two more consolation goals in time-on to reduce the margin to 15 points.
For the first time this season, Longwarry showed the teamwork and unity that has made it a perennial finalist in a big match.
Assistant coach Matt Campbell and Tye Holland were in the thick of things all game, Blair Weller ran the ball out of defence well, wingman Brodie Rundall and Danny Wells drove the ball forward regularly and Mark Light and Beau Ridgeway added plenty of grunt around the packs.
Aaron Jones’ stunning last-quarter cameo warrants a mention in the best and Ken Towt, Tim Milner and Scott Hamilton all played disciplined games in defence and Luke Serong with three first-half goals played an instrumental role.
A relieved Crows coach Graeme Jose said they had played as a team and had no individuals.
“It was a big build-up during the week and it’s good to remain in finals contention,” he said.
High-leaping Warragul ruckman Ben Hobgen won more than his share of taps and gathered many possessions around the ground to be one, if not, the most influential player on the ground, while wingman Jacob Matwijkiw showed plenty of toe and midfielder Shane Brewster and Jason Kennedy figured prominently.
Damian Dawson, Adam Neal and Jamie West solidified the defence.
Dusties’ coach Wade McGill gave credit to the Crows.
“They showed us a clean pair of heels for most of the game. It was their small running types that killed us and we must learn from that,” he said.
