South Barwon shows it means business in finals race with important five-minute stretch in win over St Mary’s
Needing win to keep their finals hopes alive, Swans young and old played like their lives depended on it in a five-minute blitz that could shape the top-five. And it proved once again they can’t be underestimated.
South Barwon’s season was at a crossroads.
The Swans conceded six of the last eight goals against St Mary’s as the Saints recovered from a slow start to hit the front by a point three-quarter time.
The lead changed three times in the last quarter as the two sides traded behinds and at the 22-minute mark, the all-important game hung in the balance.
Needing win to keep their finals hopes alive, Swans young and old played like their lives depended on it in a telling five-minute blitz that has shaped the top-five.
Emerging Swan Ethan Borys, 19, stepped up to the plate to snap through the first goal of the last term in heavy traffic to give his side some breathing space.
With tape wrapped around his head, Zac Green won critical contests in the dying minutes in just his second senior game of the season.
Twin towers Fraser Fort and Matt Caldow came to life at the death after being well held for most of the day.
Fort shook off three tacklers before setting up a chance and was there to chop off the very next kick in, while Caldow was the man who put the Swans two goals ahead after Lachie Weidemann and Harry Cunningham took it from end to end with precision.
Ruckman Ben Kellett won some key taps late and took an important intercept mark, finding Fort charging out on the lead, who slotted through the sealer.
That five-minute stretch has just left six points splitting Colac in third and South Barwon in sixth, setting up a mouth-watering match-up between the Tigers and Swans next week at McDonald Reserve.
South Barwon has a reputation for finishing the season strong under Mark Neeld, albeit failing to overcome Leopold at the last hurdle the past two seasons.
In 2023, the Swans knocked off Colac and St Mary’s – who finished second and first that season – twice in the space of a month to charge into a grand final.
Last year, South Barwon won six games in a row to make the decider from an elimination final as it overcame Bell Park, St Mary’s and St Joseph’s in the finals.
If South Barwon can defeat Colac next week on its home turf, you wouldn’t put it past the Swans to go on another rampaging run in September.
It would be a remarkable effort after an inaccurate return of 6.17 against Newtown & Chillwell put their finals hopes in grave doubt.
However, St Mary’s (fourth) and Bell Park (fifth) need to do is keep winning to deny South Barwon a top-five spot, but both finish the home-and-away season with big challenges.
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St Mary’s face ladder-leaders Newtown & Chilwell at Elderslie Reserve, while Bell Park hosts Leopold who will be doing everything it can clinch an unlikely finals berth from seventh.
Percentage will be critical in the race for the top-five: Leopold has North Shore in round 17, coming off a 212-point shellacking at the hands of Bell Park, South Barwon finishes the season with St Albans, Bell Park has Grovedale (round 17), Colac has the Tigers in round 18, St Joseph’s faces St Albans (round 17), and Newtown & Chillwell plays Lara (round 17).
It is going to be an enthralling next two weeks of Geelong league footy, and the Swans proved on Saturday they are not to be underestimated.
Originally published as South Barwon shows it means business in finals race with important five-minute stretch in win over St Mary’s
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