A win 1407 days in the making: Longwood ends drought with memorable triumph

Leading by 11 points at the last break, Longwood’s drought-breaking win was rubber-stamped thanks to its five-goal-to-one final term.

Longwood’s first-year coach Jordan Formosa said while it was a day to remember for the club, it was just the first step forward on its journey to play finals football.

“It was a really good moment to enjoy with everyone at the club and just to see how much joy it brought those who have done a lot of hard work,” Formosa said.

“It’s nice to get some reward for hard work. We got around each other that night and celebrated, but this is only just the first step forward. We’ve got a lot more to come on this journey.”

Longwood’s most recent victory before the weekend came in round 10, 2019, when the Redlegs defeated Ardmona.

Only three players remain from that win — captain Reece Dimech, Devin Gordois and Nathan Watson.

“Speaking to those guys after the game, a lot of them described it as relief,” Formosa said.

“They had gone through a long patch with not winning any games and hopefully there’s a few more to come.”

Rhys Cason was lively in attack with six majors, while Formosa’s brother Jye enjoyed a strong outing through the midfield.

Kale Frost provided support down back and was a standout with his intercepts.

Cason was a “standout” performer and he gave the Redlegs a different avenue to goal with Formosa’s brother Josh missing from the line-up.

Formosa described the win as a “team performance” and one in which he was pleased to see his side stick to its structures.

“We started really well, but were a bit inaccurate and we allowed them to get back into the contest,” he said.

“There was a few lead changes and it got real close, but the boys stuck to the structures and game plan and kicked away in the last quarter, which was good for everyone to soak up the win.”

Around the grounds, Tallygaroopna prevailed over a fast-finishing Avenel in a tense and narrow contest on the road.

Tally, without many rotations in the final term, held on for a backs-against-the-wall seven-point win as the Swans booted five goals in the last term.

Braydon Avola was best afield for the Swans along with captain Kyle Maynard.

Nagambie handed Merrigum a 167-point thrashing, with young guns Will Dalton and Jono Moore booting eight and six goals respectively.

Mitch Lusted and Rielly Old were strong contributors in the rout.

Nagambie, Avenel and Longwood all now have the week off due to the KDL split round.

In the A-grade netball ranks, Nagambie continued its stellar start to the season with a 54-41 triumph over Merrigum.

Avenel was unable to get the job done over the reigning premier and suffered a 68-22 loss to Tallygaroopna.

Longwood was on the end of a heavy defeat to Undera, 65-20.