By Jonty Ralphsmith
Endeavour Hills looked set for heartbreak.
As the clock ticked over 20 minutes in the Falcons’ Southern Football Netball League Division 2 clash with Highett, they trailed by 11 points and momentum was firmly against them.
A tense affair with several lead changes throughout the day, the Falcons kicked 0.4 to 2.3 in the first 20 minutes of the last term.
Both teams had faced heartbreak the previous week, Endeavour Hills going down to Keysborough after the siren and Highett having a 27-point three quarter time lead whittled away by East Malvern.
When the game was on the line in stoppage time of the last quarter, it was the Falcons which stood up.
Following Highett taking an 11 point advantage, star midfielder John Rafferty burst away from the chaos and kicked it to the advantage of Alex Cann, who took a one-handed mark and goaled.
After going forward from the following centre clearance, Riley Parotta kicked it to the top of the square where Mitch Anderson took an uncontested mark between Highett defenders guarding grass.
Anderson gave Endeavour Hills the lead; within three minutes an 11-point deficit became a one-point lead.
The midfield, led expertly by ruck Tyler Studd in the last quarter, did enough to deny Highett meaningful territory thereafter, with the Falcons holding on for an 8.15 63 to 8.12 60 victory.
It’s the club’s first win since 20 April.
“We’ve been doing lots right, just not for long enough,” coach Matt Peake reflected.
“We’ve been improving in certain areas but then letting ourselves down in other areas.
“You can’t have these lapses in the higher division or you get punished.”
Peake said there was clear improvement with how his side handled the late stages of Saturday’s game, compared to the loss to Keysborough.
“The previous week we went into our shells – we didn’t attack,” the coach lamented.
“When they got 11 points up this time, we maintained the belief and continued to play the way we wanted to play.
“The main thing this week was having 22 even contributions – it’s the first time this year I felt like we did that.”
Among the contributors was teenaged debutante Mitch Grant, the younger brother of 2023 premiership player Jacob Grant.
“He was very clean in wet conditions and stepped up in the last quarter – he won a crucial centre clearances which led to a goal and lifted when we needed him to,” Peake said.
The Falcons have East Malvern on Saturday, a match they will be keen to perform in given the Panthers dismantled them by 68 points earlier in 2024.
