By Justin Schwarze
With round three still in the back of its mind Gembrook Cockatoo prevailed in the clutch to knock off Officer in its own backyard in Outer East Premier Division.
In what can only be described as a seesawing affair, Gembrook was able to wrestle the lead back deep in the fourth to snatch victory.
The first major of the afternoon was ignited when a complete miss kick from Robert Hudson was intercepted at half forward for the Brookers.
They quickly launched the ball inside 50, allowing gun Robin Nahas to get in behind the scrambling Officer defence and run onto it to drill it home from close range.
The Kangaroos then responded with the next two in quick succession as playing coach Nathan Allen goaled from a nice handball from Jeremy Valentine.
This was followed by Antonio Quach finding Brent Moloney with a looping hand pass that allowed Moloney to run in and convert.
When the siren sounded to end the first, Officer led 2.4 (16) to 1.2 (8).
After a Jackson Liddle miss late in the second saw the game’s ninth consecutive behind, it appeared both teams would go goalless in the second term.
That was until a rushed Michael Firrito snap was marked by Joseph Verna 15 metres from goal.
Verna’s set shot was pure and brought the halftime score to Officer 2.7 (19) to Gembrook 2.5 (17).
Out of the rooms, Nahas made a statement by blasting a long set shot straight over the goal umpire’s head to give the Brookers the early second-half edge.
Verna was then able to use his mits again, reeling in a good grab before slotting his second.
All of a sudden, the visitors had kicked away and opened up an 11-point buffer.
Moloney then got his second run-in goal of the afternoon in a breakaway to steady for Officer, before Mark Seedsman impressively collected a ground ball and avoided tacklers to snap it home.
The Kangaroos shot themselves in the foot when they entered the protected area after a Dean Leskie mark, so Leskie capitalised with a goal on the ensuing 50-metre penalty.
Leskie lifted Gembrook back in front and at three quarter time, the Brookers had a 4.8 (32) to 5.7 (37) advantage.
In the final term, Officer struck first when a courageous Allen went back with the flight and took a mark in a perfect position.
Allen nailed his second to swing the scoreboard back in favour of the hosts.
Then, Firrito marked at half forward and quickly kicked deep searching for a target.
The ball was brought to ground, where Nahas used some wizardry to get his second soccer goal and his third for the game.
Quach was able to get himself into the game when he pounced on a mongrel kick and marked in the pocket.
He was able to guide the shot home to even the score.
After a Hudson miss, Seedsman got shoved out of a contest and was awarded with a free kick that resulted in him booting his second.
The goal gave the Kangaroos a seven-point advantage with nearly 14 minutes played.
A costly downfield free brought Gembrook right back to striking distance as young-gun Verna was handed a shot in the goal square and subsequently snagged his third.
Damien Volta had a golden opportunity to put the visitors in front a few minutes later, but missed to the near side on his running snap as he broke free from a pack.
However, the miss brought the scores level.
Then, a long ball came in hot to the Brookers’ forward line, where Verna showed brilliant awareness to tap it through for a rushed behind that put his side’s nose in front.
When Officer couldn’t clear, Louis van Dam emerged from a pack with the ball on his back, but he was able to steady and throw the ball onto his boot to dribble it home and lift the visitors to a seven-point margin.
The Kangaroos ran out of time on the following passage of play and the siren was met with elation and exhilaration from the Gembrook faithful.
The triumph was its first of the season, with van Dam the hero after giving away the free kick that led to Emerald’s goal after the siren just a fortnight before.
“I think the maturity of the group was really impressive,” senior playing coach Firrito said.
“A couple of weeks ago, we were in a very similar position and unfortunately we squandered it and it was a really hard lesson to take against Emerald.
“But the way we reacted and got ourselves in front across the ground was amazing.
“It was a bit of a contest and arm wrestle, Officer likes to use the big open spaces at their ground, so our boys were pretty good in being able to find the right mix between attacking and defending.
“Whilst that didn’t result on the scoreboard, it gave us an opportunity to be in the game the whole time.
“We’d like to think we’ll be able to score a little bit more easily but it just wasn’t to be as Officer was fantastic as well.
“It could’ve easily gone their way and they’re a pretty good young outfit too in what looks like it’s going to be a pretty even competition this year, so it was good for the competition.”
Joshua Tilly recorded 35 disposals and five marks, while Nahas posted 33 possessions, five marks and three goals.
Aaron Firrito and Brayden Weller also recorded 20 or more touches and Verna managed a bag of three majors.
The Brookers were able to overcome a low-scoring, scrappy match that was highlighted by their ability to be tough and withstand pressure.
“I think there were real positive signs that majority of the game when we couldn’t capitalise on the scoreboard, which is something we’re going to have to look at, the majority of the game was played in our half,” Firrito noted.
“Tilly was fantastic again, Patty Snoxell, Aaron, Damien Volta, who’s done it time-and-time again, Brayden Weller and Ben Schultze, those guys were all super and the win came across the back of those guys and their leadership.
“We had 47 inside-50s on a really big deck so we just gave ourselves the opportunity to win and that’s what we want to do.
“In those last few minutes whilst we’d love to be 20 points up, we just want to be in the game and that’s our biggest development.
“It was a really close contest on the weekend that was really just an arm wrestle the whole day and we got over the top in the end.
“We had the lead in different situations of the game and we were able to react so seeing the stuff we’ve talked about come to fruition through actions was probably the most rewarding thing.”
At Chandler Reserve, Mount Evelyn ran riot over Emerald with the well balanced effort of the Rovers getting the job done 3.3 (21) to 16.15 (111).
Tom Burkitt, Michael Gibbons and Callum Urquhart all booted three goals each for the visitors.
Aaron Mullett returned and did not miss a step, notching a bag of 12 majors in Wandin’s 10.7 (67) to 19.7 (121) triumph away at Olinda Ferny Creek.
Once again Woori Yallock stood tall at home in the absence of Taylor Gibson, as five different players kicked two goals for the hosts.
They rode this to get past Upwey Tecoma 14.12 (96) to 7.7 (49).
Healesville’s big second half got it over the line against Monbulk at Don Road Sporting Complex.
After a seven-point Bloods lead at halftime, the hosts kicked 5.10 to 3.4 in the second half to win 11.11 (77) to 7.10 (52).
In round 6, Emerald hosts Officer, Woori Yallock visits Monbulk, Upwey Tecoma heads to Gembrook Cockatoo, Healesville will be tested away at Wandin and Mount Evelyn welcomes Olinda Ferny Creek to town.
