By JARROD POTTER
IT’S NOT over until the final whistle, as Hockey Geelong showed in its come-from-behind 5-4 Vic League 1 grand final win over the Casey Cannons.
The Cannons earned the lead through the second half at the State Netball Hockey Centre on Sunday – taking the margin to 4-2 with 11 minutes left in regulation time – but a Geelong fight back turned the tables to earn the cup via Will Jackson’s last minute goal.
Geelong opened its account early through Mack Dolenc and Greg Hutchinson before Casey struck back to equal the score at 2-2.
That’s how it would remain at the half as both the Cannons and Sharks threatened but failed to seize their chances in front of the net.
A pair of strong saves from Casey keeper Adam Wadley and some equally impressive work from Geelong’s aptly named keeper Ben Champion kept the deadlock in place.The mayhem started in earnest after the resumption as Casey’s Matt Guastella struck from a goalmouth scramble and backed it up with his second to push the gap out to two goals with 11 minutes remaining.
Geelong worked its way back into the clash as goals to Mark Hanley and Jackson’s first levelled the scores, leaving a tense three minutes on the clock to see who would claim the premiership.
In the last minute, a scrambled flick on the goal-line from Jackson hit the net and to give the Sharks the Vic League 1 premiership and back-to-back premierships.
“Something they’ve shown all year is their ability to really fight out a game and so I knew they’d keep on giving it everything they had until the absolute end,” Geelong coach Andrew Smith said.
“Sometimes those games and those things go your way and sometimes they don’t and today was just a day that ended up great for us.
“It’s just an amazing effort by the guys and is really exciting for what lies ahead.The challenge will before us to get that promotion into Premier League next year.”
