By Ken Moore
NAR NAR GOON reserves pulled off a big upset when they upstaged red-hot favourites Cora Lynn to win their grand final by three points.
The Goon jumped the Cobras in the second quarter and set up a 20-point half-time advantage but had to withstand a strong second half fight-back by Cora Lynn, which drew level with five minutes to go before the Goon steadied with three late behinds to seal the victory.
The signs were good early for the Goon when utility Steve Hobson steered through a set shot on goal – but soon after Cora Lynn replied with a major by star sharpshooter Ryan Donaldson, who was overlooked for senior selection.
Nar Nar Goon went into the quarter-time huddle with a spring in its step after Tim Manning goaled on the siren to snatch a five point lead.
The Cobras had struggled to penetrate a tight Goon defence led by Luke Fox and Brendan Ellett in the opening term.
The Goon extended its lead in the second quarter after Blair Lidstone, Steve Hobson and Lidstone again all goaled to provide the underdogs with a handy 20-point buffer at the main change.
Lidstone, Hobson, Craig Lewis and Tim Mulcahy were all prime-movers for the Goon during the term.
Good players were hard to find for the Cobras in the first half.
After half time Cora Lynn picked up the slack. With good drive off the half back line and through the midfield by ruckman Peter McEwan, Kris Johnson, Liam Toole, Pat Venville and Nick Helsby, and with goals from Justin Davey and Nick Helsby the favourites whittled the lead back to seven points at three-quarter time.
Cora Lynn got off to a dream start in the final quarter when Luke Foreman goaled in the opening seconds to all but erase the deficit, and a few minutes later the Cobras pressed forward again and levelled the scores and threatened to over-run the Goon.
For the next 10 minutes the game turn into a battle of attrition and neither side could make any headway.
Fortunately for the Goon, the wind sprung up in the last quarter and was behind their backs and hence the Cobras had to work hard to score into it.
For a good deal of the last quarter when the Goon did attack their moves were repelled by a resilient Cora Lynn defence led by Liam Toole, Tom Van Dieman and Luke Beilby.
In the final five minutes the Goon were able to control play, bottle the game up and finally pierce the Cobra defence to notch behinds with each of their last three forays forward and run out euphoric three point victors.
Fittingly Goon stalwart Blair Lidstone was awarded the man of the match medal. Lidstone was a driving force all game and set the example for many of the younger players around him.
It was his first grand final appearance in 20 seasons of football at Nar Nar Goon and a fairytale ending for the popular clubman.
The Goon had plenty of incentive to win, to bid a worthy farewell not only to Lidstone but to coach Grant Close, Scott Murphy and Al Petrov, who also recently announced their retirement after careers than spanned two decades.
