Longwarry v Trafalgar
After three weeks off and interrupted training, heavyweights Longwarry and Trafalgar met in a game that lived up to the hype.

Despite trailing for much of the match and in the final quarter, Trafalgar ground out a thrilling 6.15 (51) to 7.6 (48) victory.

It was a stalemate early as both sides felt each other out, with some physical battles right across the ground.

Duncan Proud was finally able to break the deadlock as he snuck forward to open the Crows account, before Jedd Serong, who was looking dangerous up forward was able to mark and goal with the Crows getting on top.

The second quarter was no different, a tough tight contested battle as both sides cracked in, before a break in play after a tackle on Ben Cuckson saw him hit the ground hard, slowly making his way off the ground. 

Trafalgar couldn’t find clean avenues to goal, the work of coach Aaron Paxton on the goal line evident, putting his body on the line many times to sure up the defensive 50. Finally, Trafalgar broke through thanks to Damian Mann.

By halftime, it was two goals apiece and Bloods’ coach Chris Kyriacou swung the changes.

They moved to a man on man and the game opened up.

Longwarry forward Jason Wells hadn’t seen much of the footy, but in the third term, he came to life, igniting the Crows in a scintillating display, booting two quick goals and setting up another as Longwarry looked to use the so-called premiership quarter to their advantage. 

With Wells firing and Serong also looking dangerous, Trafalgar needed a lift from stars Klay Butler and Dylan Farrell, and they got it.

The all-important first goal of the final term went to the home side and the lead continued to change hands as time ticked away.

After a Trafalgar miss, Longwarry took the ball the length of the field to see Braydon McHugh slot home a major, before Wells gave the Crows the lead at the 17-minute mark with a superb shark off the pack and snap goal, the Crows settling in to holding possession with a three-point lead.

Trafalgar found a way to grab possession back, Klay Butler was awarded a free kick for a high tackle 40 metres out, before the whistle blew for a 50-metre penalty, ensuring Butler slotted home the winning goal with just minutes left on the clock.

Kyriacou said the win was character building and he was proud to see his team come out of after being challenged by a top side.

“Every time I ask this group to respond they do, Longwarry are a good side and it was probably 50/50 for most of it. 

“They’re such an elite side by foot, so we just needed to get in there and win it more, lucky enough we had the scoring end in the last quarter.

“We scrapped the zone and went to man on man, they’re so elite by foot so they cut us up. We backed our ability to win one on one and they had to beat us and I think we were able to win the contest there,” he said. 

Dylan Farrell’s second half was telling and he again was named best on ground, followed by Tyson Leys, Jacob Nash, Klay Butler, Chris Kyriacou and Jace Butler. 

Damian Mann continued his assault on the big sticks with three majors, with Farrell, Butler and Blake Radford the other goal kickers.

A devastated Longwarry coach Aaron Paxton said the game was one that could have gone either way.

“We did a lot of things right all day, but a couple of crucial moments were 50/50. It’s a flip of the coin, that’s why it’s so devastating.

“The thing for us today was we had our leadership back in, it makes a massive difference, we played the footy we wanted to play and controlled the ball, we just had five or 10 minute lapses, we haven’t had the time together,” Paxton said.

The Crows went into the match with just one training session as a group together, being on the metro/regional border, training on Friday night 24 hours out from the game.

“The boys are shattered, we’ll aim to bounce back and we have a big block of games coming up which we’ll now have to win,” Paxton said.

Wells booted three goals, with Jedd Serong praised by his coach for his stellar performance up forward with two majors, his lead out work giving the Crows plenty of opportunity. 

Russ Lehmann turned in a vintage performance in his best game of the year, with Jedd Serong, Kane Oldham, Jackson Caddy and Bailey Stephens all standouts in the loss.

Trafalgar will take on Ellinbank next week, with Longwarry having the bye as the fixture reverts back to round eight.