Lancaster wards off epic Shepparton East comeback in final round of Kyabram District League football

At three-quarter time, Lancaster led by 56 points.

By the final siren, the margin was four.

Shepparton East’s tempestuous comeback almost made it to fruition — and would’ve if the 36-minute final quarter went any deeper — but Lancaster did enough to walk away with a 12.14 (86) to 12.10 (82) victory.

“The first three quarters were really good and then we let them come back in the last quarter,” Davies said.

“But the first three quarters of footy was as good as we’ve played this year, so we were really pleased with that.

“It was a pretty physical game, so we were a bit sore in the last and we probably just let them get back into it, really.”

Lancaster’s swarming pressure strangled Shepparton East for long periods of the game, with the Wombats flashing their teeth early to hold a 17-2 advantage at the first break.

East booted its first goals of the day in the second term, but Lancaster wasn’t half bothered after kicking five more of its own to blow the buffer out to 40 points at the main change.

Rest assured, the Wombats weren’t done there.

Lancaster fired another four majors through the big sticks while conceding only one, leaving East’s spectators in two minds — jump in the car and make tracks or stay and hope something unlikely happens.

Those who stayed got their money’s worth all right.

A whopping nine-goal final quarter almost delivered Dwain Vidler a come-from-the-clouds win and a double chance spot, but it simply wasn’t to be as the siren sounded moments after East came within four points of a stupendous upset.

Davies spoke about what worked in the first three quarters and, on the other hand, what didn’t in the final term.

“We had really good pressure on the footyd and when we got it into our hands we executed going forward, we hit our kicks and all that sort of thing,” he said.

“To be fair it was a pretty physical, hot game of footy and we probably just ran out of legs a little bit (in the last).”

Davies bigged up his back six while saying that Wez Hill’s rucking efforts, paired with the performances of Cam Simpson, Lachlan Boscarini and Zac Cerrone helped Lancaster drag itself over the line.

For Shepparton East, Jamie Spencer played a fierce game, as did Tom McCluskey and Matt Rendina.

Saturday’s result means Lancaster rounds out in second spot behind Murchison-Toolamba, leaving Davies largely pleased with the season that was.

“It’s been pretty pleasing; we lost a few at the end of last year, a few players moved on, and we went in to the year with little expectation,” he said.

“I didn’t stand there in round one and say we’re going to lose one game for the season sort of thing.

“We didn’t put expectation on it, we promoted some younger blokes and they really stood up as the year went on, so that was pleasing.

“We’ve got ourselves into a good position; you’ve got to get the double chance to be able to be able to use it.

“We know we’ve got a big task ahead of us, hopefully with the week off we can get some bodies back and put out a really good side to face Murch.”

Speaking of the Hoppers, James Lloyd slotted 14 goals as his side returned a ridiculous 40.18 (258) to 1.1 (7) result over Violet Town to be crowned minor premier.

Avenel had a similarly flattering 31.22 (208) to 2.6 (18) win over Undera as Nicholas Goodwin and Dylan Hoysted combined for 12 goals, while Longwood’s 42-point victory over Rushworth was the third biggest margin of the round.

Tallygaroopna snuck into finals thanks to a 16-point win over Dookie United, while Stanhope missed out on percentage alone despite a 10.13 (73) to 8.11 (59) victory over Girgarre.

Lastly, Nagambie consolidated its fourth holding thanks to an 11.12 (78) to 7.10 (52) triumph.