Mt Barker’s Mitch Jackson suffers broken leg as Denmark-Walpole snatch come from behind victory

Denmark-Walpole escaped with four vital premiership points despite kicking nine behinds in the final term against Mt Barker at Sounness Park on Saturday. Neither side kicked a goal in a fourth quarter that was difficult to watch, but it was the visitors that took control after half-time to strengthen their finals chances. The Magpies kicked the last two goals of the third term to hit the front and then hung on in a dour final term, prevailing by seven points at the finish. The match was stopped for almost 15 minutes after a horror collision in the second quarter between Bulls’ Mitch Jackson and Magpies’ Bailey Bennett. Jackson flew for a mark in a contest on the wing as Bennett backed up underneath a high ball, and the pair made heavy contact. After a lengthy delay Jackson was stretchered from the ground with a broken leg. The game resumed for a few minutes before the siren sounded as the quarter ticked over 30 minutes, under GSFL rules, and the Bulls held a six-point advantage. Hardworking midfielder Scott Price pushed the margin to 12 points early in the third, but the Magpies kept coming. Bennett kicked truly from a 50m penalty before Josh Price answered immediately for the home side. However, the next two plays were decisive in the result as midfield star Jayden Woods slotted a brilliant goal on the run to pull the margin to four points. Woods, Shayne Zanetti and Tyler Stone, arguably the Magpies’ most important trio, were all involved to help Ash McGrath kick his first major, and their side hit the front on the verge of three-quarter-time. The Magpies were woeful in front of goal in the last term as Zanetti kicked four behinds and McGrath added three, but they clung on to win 7.21 (63) to 8.8 (56). The big concern for the winners was a serious ankle injury to Stone in the final term, having to be carried off the ground. Woods received the match ball in the Talk To A Mate Round for his stellar display, while Stone was highly influential and defenders David Scriven and Ash Smith were also outstanding. In his first game of the season, Zanetti kicked two goals in the first and got better as the game went on, and the Magpies went into the game without some of their first-choice players. “After half-time we played much better footy,” Magpies coach Alan Smallwood said. “We were lucky to get out of it with a win, we missed five or six shots 20-30m out virtually straight in front, so we have to get better.” An afternoon that started on such a good note ended sourly for the home side. They kicked five goals in an electric first term but the serious injury to Jackson was compounded by the loss of Sam Lehmann (back) and Steven Scott (hamstring). Scott received Bulls life membership after playing his 175th league game and kicked the opening goal of the contest. The Bulls were best served by Sebastian Ballard, Scott Price (two goals), Bryce Blaszkow, and Jack Horrocks, who blanketed McGrath for much of the game. “It is devastating for Mitch — he’s a fantastic player and he’s been really professional in his rehab from a shoulder injury,” Bulls coach David Johnson said. “He has broken both bones in his leg. We had our best quarter of the year and then it got ugly, we lost our structure and we lacked a natural forward, a goal kicker, and we’ve been missing that all year.”