By David Nagel
The arch-rivalry between Phillip Island and Cora Lynn reached extraordinary hew heights on Saturday with the Bulldogs and Cobras controversially locked at 12.7(79) after four-quarters of high-intensity football.
Players, coaches and timekeepers had to wait for 15 minutes after the final siren at Cowes before the outcome was confirmed, with the umpires eventually waving the flags to confirm the first draw of the WGFNC season.
Phillip Island appeared to have scored a point with just minutes remaining on the clock, but a mix up between the field and goal umpires saw the ball returned to play without a score being registered.
Cora Lynn then had a shot for goal with just seconds remaining on the clock, with the resultant rushed behind tying the scores.
Both teams have until later in the week to register an appeal, but as it stands the Bulldogs and Cobras have played out their second draw at Cowes since the WGFNC began in 2017.
“Hand on heart, I’m not sure exactly what happened at the end; all I know is that we had to wait 15 minutes to finally get a result,” said Cora Lynn coach Shaun Sparks.
A three-goal burst from Billy Taylor gave the Bulldogs the early ascendency, before goals to Nathan Gardiner and Jimmy Munro cut the margin to four points at quarter time.
The Bulldogs then had the better of the second stanza, kicking 3.4 to 1.2 to take a three-goal lead to the main break.
“We let ourselves down in the second quarter, narrow turnovers ended in three goals and that was the margin at half time,” Sparks said.
Cora Lynn kicked four of the first five goals in the third term to narrowly take the lead, before goals to Travis Woodfield and Jack Taylor gave the Bulldogs a six-point lead; heading into the final quarter.
Young-gun Lachie Coverdale then levelled the scores early in the last for Cora Lynn, before two goals apiece saw the scores locked after a fantastic four-quarter contest.
“In the last half we outscored them by three goals, so we had the game on our terms,” Sparks explained.
“It was just an arm wrestle all the way through the second half.
“We kicked the first of the last quarter, and then it see-sawed all the way to the end.
“Both teams were out on their feet, but we thought we had the run in the last 10 minutes but just couldn’t hit the scoreboard.
“They had numbers back, trying to protect their lead, which made it a dog-fight…but it was ripping game of footy that’s for sure.”
Bulldogs skipper Jack Taylor was brilliant for the Bulldogs with five goals, with Billy Taylor kicking four, while Charlie Bruce, Mark Griffin and Jesse Patullo were other players to shine.
The dangerous duo of Nathan Gardiner and Will Stephenson were kept to two goals each by the Bulldogs, but the Cobras had an extra ace in the pack.
The inexperienced Coverdale kicked four goals for the visitors, impressing his coach along the way.
“That was something like his 25th or 26th game of footy in his life; he played the second half last year in the seniors and then we got him a run at Casey in the pre-season so the boys could have a look at him,” Sparks said.
“He’s been playing half-back and a back-up ruck for Billy Thomas, but on Saturday they rolled a plus-one behind the ball and I told him to man him up.
“He ended up kicking four, two snaps from the boundary, one from 50 and then outmarked one of their key defenders in the goal square.
“He’s just a raw talent and we’re still undecided how we’re going to use him for the rest of the year.
“He’s a freak, and he’s got a big future ahead of him that’s for sure.”
Sparks is very content after gaining six premiership points from his first three outings against Inverloch, Tooradin and the Bulldogs.
“I’m pretty rapt at the moment, obviously our first three games have all been decided by less than 10 points, against the top three from last year, which means we’re around the mark,” he said.
“Obviously the heart has taken a bit of a pounding, but I’m really happy that we’ve been in all three games against pretty good sides.
“We didn’t kick straight against Inverloch, and paid the price, and we had a shot to win with seconds left on the clock on Saturday.
“Considering our draw; I’ll take the six points after three rounds that’s for sure.”
Thomas was exceptional for the Cobras in the ruck, while Luke Hartley played a solid game as a mid-forward and Munro gave great service through the middle despite being double-teamed for the majority of the afternoon.
The Cobras host the battling Bunyip on Saturday, while Phillip Island pays a visit to a vastly-improved Kilcunda-Bass.
