BALRANALD staged one of the most memorable comebacks in recent memory to keep their premiership hopes alive in Sunday’s elimination final, defeating a gallant Cohuna by eight points at Greenham Park.
After trailing by 49 points at half-time, the Roos kicked the next eight goals, including seven in a rampant third term, to overrun the tiring Kangas 11.4 (80) to 10.12 (72).
Balranald continue on to this Sunday’s first semi-final against NNW United, and ended Cohuna’s winning streak after eight straight victories.
The win was marred, however, by an incident in the second quarter when Cohuna midfielder Riley Hird was taken to hospital after a clash with Balranald’s Jaxon Neagle.
Neagle was red carded, putting both teams a player down for the rest of the match, and tempers flared between both clubs on and off the field.
This led to a significant delay in the game eight minutes into the quarter, with an ambulance required to transport Hird from the field as the Kangas held a 31-point lead.
When play restarted, Cohuna continued to dominate the contest as they had for the first 40 minutes, with Chris Anderson monstering the Roos in the ruck and feeding his fleet of onballers, led by Joel Helman, Jack Geary and Jackson Williams.
Balranald simply had no answer to the Kangas’ engine room in the first half, not only struggling to get their hands on the ball but battling to hit targets when they did in the windy conditions.
Cohuna moved the ball forward with ease through the corridor, with Daniel Coates and Xavier Mitchell providing good targets in their front half of the ground, while Balranald continued to go wide to the defensive side of the ground coming out of defence, which only caused continuous stoppages and played into the Kangas’ hands.
Balranald’s discipline, or lack of, was also an issue in the first term, with two 50-metre penalties inside their defensive arc gifting Joel Helman and Hird easy goals, with Helman’s the first for the match.
With the game and their season slipping away, Balranald turned their game upside down after half-time, with Jydon Neagle moving onto the ball and Jackson Ferguson into the ruck.
Ferguson had spent the majority of the second quarter in the ruck as well but didn’t have the same influence as he did after the main break, with the key defender nullifying Cohuna’s advantage around stoppages.
Matthew Neagle, who had been one of the few shining lights for the Roos in the first half, controlled the game out of the centre as Balranald began pegging back the deficit as they took the game on and started transitioning the ball into the corridor.
Ryan Middlebrook started giving the home team plenty of drive off half-back, while Harrison Soraggi, Ian Fuller and Seth Connell began to lift their work rate as the fanatic Balranald supporters started to sniff a comeback.
Cohuna had no answer to the Roos’ commanding third-quarter display, with the margin reduced to just six points by the three-quarter-time siren – a 43-point turnaround.
With their seasons on the line, both clubs threw everything at each other over the final 30 minutes, with Connell giving his side the lead four minutes into the term.
It would remain that way until two minutes before time-on, with a Coates snap on goal giving his side a four-point lead and renewed hopes that they would hold on and set up a ‘home’ semi-final next weekend.
It wasn’t to be for the Kangas, however, with Colin Andrews marking in the goal square three minutes later, giving his side a one-point lead, with Lachlan Lellmann completing the comeback minutes later and sealing the win after some more Matthew Neagle magic in transition, with Andrews and Neagle finishing the game with three goals each.
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| Cohuna Kangas | 5.4 | 9.6 | 9.10 | 10.12 | 72 |
| Balranald | 0.1 | 1.5 | 8.10 | 11.14 | 80 |
