Storm’s heartbreaking grand final loss
Great Southern Storm have fallen agonisingly short of breaking their drought at the Great Southern Colts Carnival today, as Lower South West claimed an epic grand final by the smallest of margins in Lake Grace.
The two undefeated sides from day one squared off in the decider this afternoon and after conceding the first two goals of the game, the Storm took control as they maintained a double figure lead for the large part of three quarters.
A late Lower South West goal in the third got them within striking distance as the Storm began the final term with a slender eight-point buffer.
In a fantastic final 15 minutes, neither side refused to budge as the contest lifted significantly in intensity and pressure but goals were hard to come by.
Lower South West kicked two behinds before Hamish McMorran missed a chance to restore a double figure lead for the Storm but a further two behinds left the margin at five points entering the final four minutes of the match.
Jaxon East stepped up to be the hero for his side, snapping the match winner inside the final 90 seconds of play to give Lower South West the lead back for the first time since early in the first term.
Lower South West denied the Storm a chance to go forward and reply in the last minute as they prevailed in a tense finish, 7.10 (52) to 8.3 (51).
The Storm were left to rue a goalless final term as the chance for their first title since 2014 slipped away.
Jaxon East was outstanding across the grand final and kicked two vital goals, deserving named best on ground while Reece Edwards and Liam Edwards also booted two majors each.
Taj Williams was superb for the Storm in defeat along with the high-flying Kieran Gowdie, ruckman Kalin Lane, Brock Anning and Cyrus Upson was the only multiple goal kicker with two.
In the earlier playoff games Goldfields had a convincing win over Ongerup, Esperance took care of Eastern Districts and Peel were too strong for Upper Great Southern.
See Tuesday’s edition for full coverage of the carnival.
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