A five-goal bag to a St Mary’s forward was not enough to steal victory as Newtown & Chilwell withstood a late surge to win by eight points at Elderslie Reserve.
The round 7 match lived up to the hype of first versus second on the GFL ladder, with the Towners withstanding a late surge from the visitors to eventually win 9.10 (64) to 7.14 (56) in cold and gloomy conditions.
Earlier, it appeared a mismatch with the Towners looking the dominant team for most of the first half with the sticky fingers of Lachlan Bond a constant threat up forward and their defence keeping the Saints to just 18 points at half time.
The Eagles were also the recipient of a few costly turnovers in defence, while a left foot banana from Michael Condy underlined an electric first quarter from the home side.
Bond continued to dazzle the crowd with his aerial feats in the second term and almost pulled the mark of the year, possibly the decade.
Lachlan Bond almost pulled down a hanger in the second term. Picture: Mark Wilson
However, the Saints were fortunate Jordan Walter’s snap from the spillage somehow bounced on its end and back into play from the goal line.
The Eagles went to the break with all the momentum via a brilliant running goal to Archie Sinnott, weaving through the middle of the ground, seconds before the half time bell.
Then there was a sizeable shift in the third term in favour of the Saints, but the visitors couldn’t quite reflect that control on the scoreboard, kicking 2.6.
It looked like a Sprague-led Saints would storm home, though, as scores were levelled several times in the dying stages.
But the Eagles ultimately responded, aided by a pair of late free kicks and a clutch goal to new recruit, Footscray VFL premiership player Liam Nash.
The long haired dynamo kicked a pair of majors, held some strong marks and was a regular, physical threat.
Towners coach Damien McMahon said it was their best win of the season. Picture: Mark Wilson
Towners coach Damien McMahon said it was easily their best win of the season, their seventh in succession, in “challenging conditions”.
“You’re playing against the reigning premiers and you beat them, it’s always a good day,” McMahon said.
“They had good form and they had a pretty good side on the park as well.
“They were probably a little bit sharper than we were around the stoppages (in the second half).
“They threw everything they had at us.”
He said his team managed to control the play and tempo for a crucial two to three-minute period to wrestle back the advantage, while Ryan was one of his best on the ground.
Liam Nash celebrates one of his two goals against St Mary’s. Picture: Mark Wilson
“He was fantastic for us,” he said.
“He’s shown some real poise and leadership (this season).”
Meanwhile, Saints coach Glenn Keast praised his team’s effort after a lacklustre opening half. With just one fit player left on the bench, following corkies to Jarryd Garner and Sam Bourke, they kept the Towners to just three goals in the second half.
“You can’t be too harsh on our guys,” Keast said.
“We played the way we wanted to play (but) we kicked 2.6 in the third quarter.
“Our second half was actually pretty good, we just came from too far back.
“We’ve just to make sure we learn from it and get better.”
In other results, Leopold 10.8 (68) defeated Geelong West 9.7 (61), South Barwon 15.18 (108) beat Bell Park 8.10 (58), Colac 20.10 (130) flogged Lara 8.12 (60), St Joseph’s 19.17 (131) belted St Albans 4.6 (30) and Grovedale 8.19 (67) drew with North Shore 10.7 (67).