Barooga celebrated its 125th anniversary with a courageous five-point win against arch-rival Cobram in the Murray Football League.
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In front of a strong crowd at Barooga Recreation Reserve, the Hawks led by nine points at the main break, before trailing by three points at the end of the third quarter.
The Tigers moved out to a 13-point lead in the final term as the rain started to fall on what was a bitterly cold afternoon.
The game looked to be slipping away from the Hawks but some desperate defence and some big effort plays turned the match on its head with Wade Demasi kicking the winning goal with less than a minute remaining.
‘‘I a not going to lie, with 10 minutes to go I thought we were gone,’’ Barooga coach James Hazelman said.
‘‘We have have been in those positions a lot this year and haven’t been able to grind the game out.
‘‘To kick the last three goals and see the game out is a really good feeling.’’
Demasi bagged three goals for the day with Riley Gow picking up a double.
Lachlan Wright and Zac Brain kicked a goal each with the latter also making a couple of momentum-swinging plays in the final quarter.
‘‘The people who come and watch know how hard (Brain) goes at it, the way he attacks the footy,’’ Hazelman said.
‘‘You can’t knock a bloke like that, he helped lift the team, he found something as did the rest of the team after that.
‘‘A couple of the goals there were snaps, those little things go your way and we were able to get the points which was really good.’’
With many former Hawks in the crowd for the club’s milestone day, Hazelman felt the result was the perfect way to kick off the celebrations.
‘‘The feeling for me in the rooms after the game, to have so many past players was sensational,’’ he said.
‘‘The balcony was full and tonight is going to be a really good night with the win.’’Barooga remains 11th despite picking up the four points, while Cobram drops to sixth.
The injury-hit Tigers have won just three of its past eight and coach Josh Noonan felt his side did not do enough in the final quarter to secure the win.
‘‘We probably dropped off our pressure and to Barooga’s credit they kept applying it,’’ he said.
‘‘They probably deserved the win at the end of the day and they just wanted the football more.
‘‘We have got to be better than that and stay in the contest they — they stayed in the contest longer and deserved the win.’’
Cobram finishes the regular season at home to top eight contender Finley and then away to Mulwala.
Wins in both matches could see the Tigers claim fourth.
Barooga will look to win back-to-back matches for the second time this season away to Moama this weekend, before hosting Congupna in round 18.
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