Tigers pip Bulls in final minute to seal thriller

Railways remain unbeaten after pinching a thrilling three-point victory over Mt Barker with less than 30 seconds to play at Tigerland in round two of the Great Southern Football League on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulls kicked the first five goals of the match to stun the home side and open up a 38-point lead before two late goals to Haydn Sproxton gave the Tigers some hope heading into the main break.

Kym Monteath, who was dangerous all day, booted his third goal early in the second half and when key forward Daniel Parker snagged his fourth, the Bulls again led by 36 points.

The home side rallied, however, as they kicked the last three majors of the third term to reduce the deficit to 17 points at the last change.

Tom Wolfe and Doug Roberts gave the Tigers the first two goals of the final stanza before a 50m penalty resulted in Jacob Skinner pushing the Bulls advantage back to 10 points.

The Tigers — through Wolfe and then Kenton Gibbs — hit the front with three minutes to play but it was only short-lived as Monteath snapped his fourth to hand the Bulls back a three-point lead.

In a frantic final two minutes, the Tigers went forward, where Mitch Green marked outside 50 before he received a 50m penalty for a Bulls player entering the 10m protected area and the new recruit sealed victory for the home side with 23 seconds left on the clock.

Midfield duo Joel Want and Zane Marwick were outstanding for the winners while Gibbs continues to impress to boot four goals in the 14.8 (92) to 14.5 (89) result.

New Bulls recruit Kallen Bond was superb in the first half, completely outpointing Bodhi Stubber before Gibbs was moved to him briefly and then eventually the Tigers settled on Sproxton going back into defence to mark him.

Young duo Nelson Kent and Wolfe (two goals) were full of running in the final term as the Tigers kicked five goals to secure back-to-back wins to start 2018.

The lead changed hands three times in an epic final four minutes with Tigers player-coach Craig Frost delighted with his side’s gutsy comeback.

“We had a slow start, which made things tough,” he said. “But the boys wanted to fight, they wanted to win and at three-quarter time, we thought we were a chance.

“The last few minutes of quarters, we were able to get on top and in the last the group lifted considerably.”

Monteath and Parker, who took a number of strong contested marks, finished with four goals each while Joel Gray and Adam Tissott were also strong contributors.

Bulls coach Brad Hook said his side got complacent and they could not stem the Tigers’ surge in the second half.

“When Railways were winning the clearances, we didn’t get back hard enough and once they got that momentum, we couldn’t stop them,” he said.

“All credit to Railways and their persistence — I think we got a bit complacent and we could have done more to stop the run of goals.

“It was a learning curve for us, especially our coaching group, but in the first quarter, that was some of the best footy we’ve played in a couple of years.”