Trent Herbert lived out every young footballer’s dream on Saturday as he won the game for Shepparton off his own boot with an incredible goal after the siren to break Tatura’s hearts and send Bears supporters into raptures.
The thrilling post-siren kick to seal a 6.13 (49) to 7.9 (51) victory was the fairytale ending for the Bears as they celebrated club legend Nick Allan’s 350th Goulburn Valley League match in style.
With his side down by four points, Herbert marked 20m from goal on a tight angle in the dying seconds of the match before the final siren sounded as he begun his set-shot routine.
Will Pyke stood on the mark just metres off the boundary line at the caravan park end of the ground as Herbert, urged on by a throng of club reserve players behind him, aimed for the furtherest goal post and allowed for the breeze to do the rest.
It was a beautiful left-to-right motion — similar to the deliveries sent down on the coverage of the Ashes cricket overnight — that caught the wind and split the goal posts.
To view the above video click to enter fullscreen.
Pandemonium followed as the hero of the moment was swamped by teammates and supporters in memorable scenes.
Herbert relived the magical moment that leapfrogs his side over Tatura into seventh spot on the ladder.
“Yeah it was unreal, especially to get over the line for Nick in his 350th, it was a fairytale ending,” he said.
“I actually had a few set shots from a similar spot and distance at training on Thursday, so when I took the mark I backed myself in. I just got straight into my set-shot routine and it was funny, I had about 10 or so blokes from the ressies behind me as you can hear in the video, but in the moment I couldn’t really hear them.
“It was a strong wind, so I aimed for the far right goal post. I heard the siren go, but I didn’t want to dwell on it, I just thought the quicker the better.
“The scenes were unbelievable; people were jumping over me and there were a few kids at the bottom of the pack, it was pretty wild.”
Herbert’s match-winner was his third goal for the day, while Connor Fleming and Ethan Baxter provided strong support to be included in the Bears’ best.
Harley McCarthy continued his rich vein of form for Tatura, while defender Che Walls and on-baller Ethan Penrith rounded out the host’s top performers.