With minutes left on the clock, Joel Bennett’s fairytale return to footy after suffering a broken neck and spending six months in hospital looked like it would end with a courageous, but narrow, loss.
Corio trailed Anakie by 11 points and Bennett, who had booted five goals, could have been forgiven for just being happy to get through the match.
But these Devils were not going to let this one slip for their beloved coach.
Goals to Jacob Kleidon and Herschelle Carr put Corio in front and they held on to win by four points in front of a delirious home crowd at Shell Reserve.
Bennett fractured his neck against Inverleigh 11 months ago and spent six months in hospital on the road to recovery.
He was told he may never play footy again, but on Saturday led Corio to a rousing victory.
“I’m actually not a nervous person,” Bennett said.
“I didn’t have any butterflies or anything like that, but I was very eager to get out there. I just woke up that morning and was getting ready and like I said to my fiance Tiff on the way ‘I just want to get there and start the game’. It felt like forever between getting to the club and then our game starting.”
Corio finished bottom of the ladder last season, although there were some encouraging signs. Bennett said the come from behind win would instill belief among his squad.
“The feeling in the rooms after, it was just amazing,” he said.
“I think we’re going to take a lot of belief out of it. They’re just starting to mature a bit. We missed the COVID year my first year back and it sort of hurt everyone. For a lot of our boys that was their top age under 18 year and then coming into senior footy and then the season got cut short. The boys have still only played anywhere between 30 and 40 games. So it’s just getting them to understand how to play different situations and things like that.
To the boys’ credit on the weekend they took a massive step forward.”
Bennett praised the defensive efforts of Matthew Jelenic.
“The last time we played them, Oscar Barter kicked seven goals against us,” he said.
“Matty went to him yesterday and he actually kept him goalless. Oscar kicked one goal, but that wasn’t on Matty. Matty got rotated out of the play and manned up another player. It just shows how dangerous Oscar is, but Matty played him really well.”
Bennett also gave kudos to midfielder Russell Cowan.
“He was phenomenal, especially late in the game (with) some of the contests that he won,” he said.
“That’s exactly why we’ve got him into the club.”
Corio takes on Bannockburn this Saturday at home.
“The competition is so even and I think we will go into pretty much every game that we would definitely be a chance to give ourselves a sniff,” Bennett said.
“The brand of footy we’re trying to play, I think it’s going to give us a good sniff against anyone.”
Reigning premiers Thomson had to dig deep to shrug off a persistent Geelong West by 17 points. The Giants gave themselves a sniff with a six goals to none third term, but Thomson steadied with Lucas Boyd slotting through four goals.
Belmont won a thriller by three points against Werribee Centrals. Barwon Heads recruits Lachie Slorach and Billy Pelham were among the best for the Lions.
North Geelong was too good for Bell Post Hill by 64 points. Rory Desnoy booted four for the Magpies and Mark Paramonov was best.
Zac Smith kicked five goals for East Geelong in a 17-point win against Bannockburn. Onballer Ben Crombie starred for the Eagles, who trailed at the last change, but booted six goals to three in the final term.
Indi Parish kicked four goals for Winchelsea in a six-point win against Inverleigh. Lachie Gemmill was best while Jaiden Reid kicked three majors and was best for the Hawks.
