Sport
26 August, 2025
Saints survive after-siren drama against Lions
Trentham survived an early deficit and a kick after the siren to escape with a four-point victory and a ticket to the preliminary final at Harcourt’s expense.
The Saints reversed an 18-point quarter time margin to register back-to-back qualifying final wins over the Lions, with Saturday’s clash much more dramatic than last season’s encounter.
Despite being in unfamiliar territory as the underdogs, Harcourt began the contest well and truly on top of Trentham, rewarded with Riely Thiesz kicking the opening goal of the match after a free kick.
That began a run of four consecutive goals to complete a perfect start for the Lions.
Thomas Walters, Jack Threlfall and Kristian Bruce got on the scoresheet while Jordan Gartside and Joshua Hogg were making several intercept marks to stop multiple Trentham advances in their tracks.
The Saints had several kickable chances to get a needed goal on the scoreboard, but couldn’t convert until the 25 minute mark with a Cooper Webber-Mirkin major in the goal square after a 50 metre penalty.
It was a breakthrough Trentham desperately needed before quarter time, yet still trailed by three goals.
The second quarter began rather tensely, with neither team scoring in the opening seven minutes, but that changed thanks to a clinical set shot from Bruce extending Harcourt’s lead to 24 points.
After being kept relatively quiet in the first term, MCDFNL leading goalkicker James Regan made a big impact late in the second quarter with two well-taken goals to keep Trentham in striking distance, down by 14 points at half time after a low-scoring period.
Regan’s quickfire double seemed to ignite the Saints’ offence after the main break, kicking the first two goals of the quarter through Regan and Joel Dovaston.
Despite a long-range effort from Baxter Gurd restoring part of Harcourt’s advantage, Joel Cowan gave the Saints their first lead of the day with back-to-back goals.
The two teams would trade goals through Brent Harvey and Walters to end the quarter, with Trentham up by four points heading into the final change.
The first blow of the fourth quarter was delivered by Trentham, with Regan in the perfect spot to mark in the goal square and kick his fourth goal to extend the Saints’ newfound lead to double digits.
It took 11 minutes for Harcourt to respond, but when they finally broke through, they pounced.
First, Tom Martin converted a set shot to cut the deficit to four points. Then, after a free kick from the centre bounce, Thiesz slotted his second of the day to give the Lions a late lead.
Harcourt didn’t find themselves in the driver’s seat for long, as an untimely turnover inside their defensive 50 allowed Marcus Elderfield to find Regan open in the goal square, who made no mistake putting Trentham back in front.
Regan had the chance to ice the game for the Saints shortly thereafter, but his short-range dribble attempt went through for a behind, giving the Lions a lifeline.
Harcourt had the chance to make the most of it when Mitchell Peeler accidentally soccered the ball out on the full, giving the Lions a shot after the siren to break the Saints’ hearts.
Despite being a difficult chance on the boundary deep in the pocket, the ball was in the very capable hands of Harcourt co-captain Walters, who already kicked two for the game.
Unfortunately for the Lions, Walters’ banana attempt went across the face, allowing Trentham to breathe a sigh of relief with a four-point victory.
“We were really poor for a quarter and a half, the first 15 minutes of a lot of our first quarters have been a real Achilles heel for us,” Trentham senior coach Mark Adamson said.
“The things that are really key to when we play well we just didn’t do any of them, our tackles were under 10 for the quarter and we were very slow with our ball movement.
“Full credit to Harcourt, on a big ground with their leg speed, they were really good.
“When they got to five goals to one, another goal or two to them then, I’m not sure we would’ve got back.
“Taylor Ford for us, if we hadn’t of had him in the first half, there was no way we would have won the game, he was by far our best player at centre half back.”
With their backs against the wall at half time, Adamson said his team, particularly his talented midfield, stepped up when they needed it most.
“The third quarter our midfield really lifted, Zachary Gervasoni our ruckman was pretty good all day and Thomas Fuller, Dovaston and Harvey were really good,” he said.
“Once we put a bit more pressure on in our forward half and in the midfield, they couldn’t come into our forward line as easily.
“Regan missed a couple of key shots late which was a bit scary but he’s kicked five goals for us so he was pretty instrumental.
“In my experience you don’t win many finals when you get that far down early, especially in a low-scoring game, so it probably gives us a bit of belief.”