What a year it was on the various stages of Goulburn Valley League battle in 2024.
Sure, there were some results sides would rather not look back at, and some hammerings, which can’t be helped.
Weren’t there sure some classic encounters, though?
Season 2024 served us up a few more than memorable outings, ranging from the unthinkable late comebacks to the 120-minute tussles.
It’s our job now to examine which contests served up the sweetest treats — but unluckily for one club, it’s ended up on the list twice in losing efforts.
Who earned the mantle as the competition’s greatest entertainer? Let’s kick off with a late, late show:
5. Tatura 11.9 (75) defeated Seymour 10.12 (72), round one
It might be remembered in Goulburn Valley folklore as ‘the Chaz Sargeant game’.
Observers on opening day at Tatura Park would have believed they were witnessing the dawn of a new era as their Bulldogs tackled a deep finals contender from the previous year in Ben Davey’s Lions.
The eighth-placed outfit from 2023 was by no means a favourite on home soil, but Paul Barnard’s side provided plenty of plucky opposition in leading at quarter-time and trailing by less than two kicks at the final change.
Sargeant’s moment came after the final bell with a feast-or-famine scenario, needing to calmly convert amongst the chaos to deliver the Dogs a famous win.
Convert, he did, and the locals were in raptures.
It ended up being anything but the herald of something greater in hindsight, with a savage injury crisis stymieing the red, white and blue at every turn, but this was a contest not to be missed.
4. Benalla 14.9 (93) defeated Shepparton Swans 13.12 (90), round nine
It was looking like a torrid old time for Benalla this season after a miserable winless run coming into this encounter at home to Jedd Wright’s side.
You can imagine a few heads would have dropped when the Swans booted the first five majors of the game, as far as 33 points ahead before first-quarter time-on.
Steele Simpson showcased all the makings of a big day out and his eventual haul of six was a just reward.
Could you have possibly believed the Saints would rally their way into a half-time lead, though? Simply staggering.
The final term reflected the desperate circumstances swirling around both teams at the time as all involved went gung-ho on offence in a shootout.
Will Martiniello was the architect of this stunning breakthrough comeback with 34 disposals, 23 contested touches and 14 clearances as Jarrad Waite’s side came from the clouds to snatch a highly memorable result.
3. Mooroopna 11.12 (78) defeated Rochester 11.9 (75), round 17
Perhaps if any game in local football this year deserved to be remembered under one name, this is what you’d decide on.
It’s a game which has already featured in multiple News discussions, for good reason, and one sure to live in the annals of Mooroopna faithful who were lucky enough to witness it — here’s praying you didn’t leave early.
Hamish Hoopell’s withdrawal in the game’s opening minutes staggeringly did little harm on the scoreboard for the visiting Tigers, who kept things under control for a half then blew away out of the sheds with four unanswered goals in the third.
You know who did a bit of harm on the scoreboard, though? You obviously do. You know how this story ends — one Mr Daniel Johnston.
Staring down a 21-point hole in time-on, Johnston had been well-held for the afternoon’s bulk before deciding, seemingly on a whim, that this game belonged to him and nobody else.
Six minutes of utter destruction brought John Lamont’s side to life following a somewhat ho-hum period during the final term when all seemed lost, with Johnston’s enduring historical moment coming with an after-the-siren set shot to cap one of the more insane twists country football would produce this year.
2. Mooroopna 10.11 (71) defeated Kyabram 9.10 (64), elimination final
It wasn’t just about what teams were capable of with four points on the line — we all know finals football can bring the best out of the best.
Combine that with the fervent, cacophonic atmosphere of a Saturday night thriller and your entertainment is all sorted.
Such was the case when Mooroopna and 2023 grand finalist Kyabram collided in a home final for the Cats.
Brad Mangan would fire the first salvo, eventually leading all comers with four on the night, and recently announced Bombers recruit Coby McCarthy proved highly influential in ending his new side’s 2024 campaign with a ruthless display which featured 33 disposals, 10 marks, seven inside 50s and two goals.
The two outfits exchanged one-point leads across the first two changes in what felt like a titanic clash at ground level, but a barnstorming third term from Lamont’s men threatened to fizzle it out.
Mangan was there and then there again to help bring Corey Carver’s men within the slimmest of differences, but it was Logan Campbell who delivered the hammer blow with a sensational pressure snap in the dying stages to seal Mooroopna’s passage to the semis in an epic.
1. Kyabram 9.6 (60) defeated by Euroa 8.15 (63), round three
Yes, apologies to the red and black army for the double blow at the top of the rankings.
It is surely warranted, though, for Kyabram provided one half of two outstanding night-time affairs even without the reward to show for it.
Round three had already served up a couple of close-run things, featuring a dramatic draw out at Benalla, but Kyabram and Euroa turned the pressure right on under lights in the west.
Mangan was again right at the forefront; what better return could you ask for than five kicks in a game for four majors?
Meanwhile, the Magpies came into half-time with a handy buffer courtesy of six goals from six different contributors, but frustration grew among the visiting fans when five straight Euroa behinds littered a third term which could have iced the game.
It was scrappy, it was scintillating, it was a sensational final term for pure pressure and atmosphere as these two finals hopefuls inched towards the finish line before Lachlan Hill proved the hero with a finish off the ground in scrum-like circumstances to deliver a galvanising result.