Nathalia prevailed over Congupna in a game of fine margins on Saturday, fending off a fourth-quarter resurgence to lay claim to a nail-biting two-point win.
The Purples started the hotter of the sides, but as The Road grew into the game, it took all of Nathalia’s defensive acumen in the dying stages to secure the four points after wrestling the lead back in an epic final standoff.
Having slogged it out in the trenches at Nathalia Recreation Reserve all game, co-coach Glenn Boyd was jubilant after ticking off Congupna 12.9 (81) to 12.7 (79) as it lifts his side into the top four.
“We’re pretty excited; six or seven weeks ago we had a block or four or five games we targeted to win and we did,” Boyd said.
“Then we’ve earmarked this week and Moama, if we pick off these two then we pretty much set ourselves up to have a really good chance to finish high on the ladder.
“It’s a massive win for us.”
Two players in particular approached the game with extra impetus – Nathalia’s Liam Evans and Congupna’s Daniel Schaper.
Evans, playing his 150th senior game, was a titan up forward as he led the charge to see the host up by 15 points at the opening break, while Schaper desperately tried to match the effort at the opposite end of the ground in his 100th.
Following an early lapse, The Road kept pace with Nathalia, but weren’t gaining much ground back as the home side rebounded expertly off half-back and excelled in transition.
That was until the third quarter, where a 4.2 effort from Congupna set up a thrilling final quarter.
Nathalia held a two-goal lead heading in and extended it to three, but something stirred within the visitors and they threw everything at the Purples to push out and take the ascendancy for the first time all afternoon.
But as good teams do, the Purples found a way to restore dominance and hold firm in a stoppage-heavy last few minutes.
Evans finished the day with seven goals, with Boyd praising his teammate while also lauding the vein of form Nathalia has found itself in with seven games left in the home and away season.
“He’s probably our best forward by head and shoulders at the moment,” he said.
“His ability to win one-on-one contests consistently, he’s just gone to the next level.
“We’re starting to find a bit of form, we’ve got a few more guys back the last three or four weeks which has given us a bit of depth across the field.
“Our midfield competed really well, because Congupna has got a pretty elite midfield, and our forwards seemed to be able to get on top when we needed to in the end.”
For Congupna, Schaper ended with two goals and Elliot Cavallaro four, while Elijah Kilmartin and Cody Di Bella had great games.
In another top six clash, Moama overpowered Numurkah to leapfrog the Blues into second.
The Magpies remedied a latent start to hold Numurkah scoreless in the second quarter and pushed on to scalp a 6.10 (46) to 3.7 (25) come-from-behind win.
At Mercury Drive, Jack Sutherland had a fierce day in front of goals as he booted 17 majors on the way to leading Mulwala to a 221-point win over Rumbalara.
His astonishing effort takes him to 56 for the season, seven ahead of Nathalia’s Evans.
Elsewhere, Barooga toppled Tocumwal by 102 points, Finley sealed a three-goal victory over Tongala and Deniliquin beat Cobram 11.6 (72) to 7.7 (49).