Seven goals in just over half an hour from champion full-forward Nathan Gardiner has ensured Cora Lynn will once again saddle up for a finals campaign in West Gippsland football this year.
Cora Lynn trailed Inverloch-Kongwak at the 27-minute mark of the third quarter, before the back-to-back 100 goalkicker went ballistic; driving the Cobras to their most important win of the season.
Gardiner kicked four goals in five minutes at the end of the third term, and then three in the final quarter, taking his daily tally to 12 and leading the Cobras to an 18.8(116) to 10.11(71) success.
It was a crucial win for the visitors, who now sit in fourth position with a two-game gap over the seventh-placed Sea Eagles; who now need everything to go right to play finals football this year.
This week’s clash with Kilcunda-Bass, and an August 16 date with Warragul Industrials, will likely determine Inverloch’s fate.
Cora Lynn still has a lot to prove; having not defeated a team that currently sits in the top five, but Saturday was definitely a forward step.
The inclusion of star midfielder and co-coach Jimmy Munro for his first game back since round six ensured that would be the case before the opening bounce of the ball.
Inverloch-Kongwak also had some key inclusions that played significant roles in the home side opening up a 12-point lead at quarter time.
Midfielders Oscar Toussaint and Paul Pattison were busy for the Sea Eagles in the opening term, while the experienced pairing of Lewis Rankin and Dylan Clark were having an impact at either end of the ground.
Rankin’s ability to read the play and spoil, stopped Gardiner from getting off the chain early, with the champ having two on the board at the first break.
Clark was super-effective up forward, kicking an early goal on his left and setting up another later in the quarter.
The Cobras looked the better team after 23 minutes of play, leading by 12 points, but Inverloch kicked four unanswered goals – all in red-time – to set up a two-goal buffer at the first break.
Nick Baltas kick-started the run of goals with an opportunistic kick off the ground, before Baltas and Clark found Jack Ginnane with nice passes to open up a six-point lead.
Toussaint put the finishing touches on a six-goal first quarter for the Sea Eagles with a classy check-side kick from the pocket.
Ethan Park was having quite an impact for the Sea Eagles through the middle, but the Cobras settled best in a much dour second term.
After 10 goals were kicked in a hectic start to the contest, only three were kicked in the second; all from the laces of the Cobras.
Gardiner took his tally to four at half time, while a right-foot snap from Nathan Villella opened up a seven-point lead for the Cobras at the major interval.
Inverloch soon closed that gap and moved forward after goals to Will Turner, Toussaint, and a third for the day from full-forward Ginnane, gave them a 13-point lead at the nine-minute mark of the third.
Hartley and Gardiner soon answered for the Cobras, but when Clark kicked his second at the 20-minute mark of the premiership quarter the Sea Eagles appeared to have all the answers.
But that was the last shot fired by the home side, with the Cobras kicking the last nine goals of the contest.
The Nathan Gardiner Show had come to the town of Inverloch!
After Tim Payne had cut the margin to four points, Gardiner exploded during red-time in the third; changing the course of the match with his four goals in five minutes.
Two of his goals came from precision passing from Heath Briggs and Tristan Warkuss, while he was simply too strong for Lucas Allen and Jarvis Pryor before banging through the others.
In what seemed like the click of the fingers; the Cobras had turned a 13-point deficit into a match-winning 21-point lead at the final change.
Gardiner would kick three, and Payne his second, as the Cobras finished off the job in style.
Gardiner was the undoubted hero for the Cobras, with his even dozen taking his tally to 58 goals from 11 games this season.
The Cobras will be licking their lips over the next month, with games against Kooweerup, Kilcunda-Bass, Dalyston and Korumburra-Bena likely to lock in that finals campaign.
It also provides the signature figure in West Gippsland football to make significant inroads into his quest to kick a third-consecutive century.
Gardiner was the major beneficiary on Saturday of some great work from Billy Thomas in the ruck, while Heath Briggs was the most damaging midfielder on the ground; with every one of his 19 touches effective.
Briggs dialled things up for the Cobras when they need it most during the middle stages of the third.
Hartley and Payne kicked two each for the winners, while Jaxon and Matt Briggs joined hard-working centre-half forward Matt Ryan on the Cobras’ best players list.
Inverloch really did show something on the weekend, and may have just ran out of steam with so many important players making their way back from injury.
Those injury concerns were exacerbated on Saturday, with Ginnane coming off the ground midway through the third quarter with a hamstring complaint after having three goals to that point in the match.
Exciting youngster Jo Nowell also looked a little worse for wear in the second half.
The Sea Eagles simply must win this week against sixth-placed Kilcunda-Bass to keep their finals hopes alive.
The Cobras should take care of business when they make the short trip to Denhams Road to take on an undermanned Kooweerup.
We won’t know the full potential of the Cobras until their last three games of the season; against Tooradin-Dalmore (2), Phillip Island (3) and Nar Nar Goon (1).
