The Deni Rams Senior put on a seven-goal final quarter performance for the ages on Sunday to hang on in the finals.
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It was a remarkable come-from-behind victory against reigning premier Mulwala in the opening round of the Murray League finals series.
Played in blustery conditions at Tongala on Sunday, the Rams never looked likely for three quarters and trailed by 26 points at the final change before star forward Sam Lloyd ignited his hometown club with a four-goal last term.
Lloyd had been well held by Dylan McNamara to this point, but he turned on the jets, twice marking and goaling and then roving two more goals off the packs to lift his side to victory.
Amazingly, after trailing by 26 points at the last break, the Rams had taken back the lead only 10 minutes into the final term.
They were able to ice the match comfortably in the end, winding down the clock for the final few minutes with a 16-point advantage.
The Rams supporters erupted at the final siren – many commenting the victory was the club’s best since the 2011 premiership, which both Lloyd and Ricky Gittens, who also starred with four goals, were a part of.
Gittens was Deni’s best player on Sunday. He lifted his teammates, and the crowd, with a screamer in the second term, riding on his opponent’s back and then going back and kicking truly from about 40m out just when his team desperately needed it.
It was the Lions who jumped out of the blocks, kicking three goals in about seven minutes to start the game.
Rugged onballer Todd Gallagher kept Deni in the contest with his bustling pack work and tackling in the centre bounce duels, and once the Rams settled and got their hands on the footy, they looked a much better side.
Key forward Gus Durnan backed up Gallagher’s bravado with some clean hands at centre-half forward, and he marked and goaled against the wind to give the Rams their only goal for the term, the Lions holding a 21-point lead at the break.
The Rams steadied a little in the second stanza, with Gittens proving a handful and on baller Jake Hobbs kicking the opening goal for the Rams.
Harry Hillier had the job on Mulwala’s prime mover Jackson Gash, quelling his run, while Durnan, ruckman Hamish Shepheard and Gallagher went to work around the stoppages to try and block the Lions’ speedsters who were causing headaches.
Deni slotted three goals for the term, but the Lions managed two of their own to maintain a healthy lead at the main break.
Mulwala came out breathing fire in the third quarter, kicking the opening two goals and looked to have the match well in hand.
But to Deni’s credit, they continued to fight, knowing they’d be coming home with a strong wind.
Durnan marked deep in the pocket and snapped a good goal - his third for the match.
Hobbs then marked and kicked his second from about 40m out, and Gittens marked and kicked his second from about the same distance.
The Rams were just hanging in there.
Young gun Cable Fitzpatrick shifted from halfback to the midfield, and he gave the Rams some real spark with his ball-winning and tackling, and this energy helped spark his team heading into the last term.
The Deni defence had held up under immense pressure to this point, with Lachie MacDonald and Lachy Small crucial across halfback, taking some strong intercept marks at critical stages of the game.
The final term was undoubtedly Deni’s best footy of the year.
The whole team lifted off the back of a Herculean effort from ruckman Shepheard who dominated the centre bounces, palming the ball off to Gallagher, Gittens and Fitzpatrick who broke the defensive lines to hammer the ball forward.
The Rams defenders also pressed up the field, squeezing the Lions into submission while isolating Lloyd in the forward 50, and he certainly delivered.
The Rams, unbelievably, had taken the lead by the 10-minute mark and were not stopping.
Fittingly, Durnan goaled on the run from about 50m – his fourth for the day - and Deni had built a two-goal lead and now looked in full control.
The reigning premiers managed just four behinds for the final term and were left shell-shocked, bowing out of the Murray League finals as the Rams celebrated an amazing and unlikely victory.
Final score: Deni Rams 14.9 (93) def Mulwala 11.11 (77).
Best players: Ricky Gittens, Todd Gallagher, Sam Lloyd, Cable Fitzpatrick, Harry Hillier, Angus Durnan. Goals: Ricky Gittens (4) Sam Lloyd (4) Angus Durnan (4) Jake Hobbs (2).
• Other Rams reports from the weekend’s Murray League finals were not available at the time of going to print yesterday. They will be included in Friday’s edition.
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