Busselton have won a thrilling Dale Alcock Homes Second Semi Final, defeating Bunbury by a point, surviving a kick after the siren at PC Payne Park on Sunday afternoon.
Busselton won the toss and kicked with a handy breeze and did all of the attacking in the early stages, with Tony Notte kicking the opening goal courtesy of a fifty metre penalty.
Jackson Arbon sent a bullet like pass to Liam Creighton who converted, giving the Magpies a perfect start, leading by thirteen points after six minutes. A smart kick from Dylan Heasman found Haydn Busher who goaled from the top of the goal square to give the Bulldogs their first goal. Brayden Lawler goaled on the run less than a minute later to give the Magpies the immediate reply. Liam Creighton kicked a long range goal from outside 50m to give Busselton a three goal lead. Busher would kick a steadying goal for Bunbury, with the game played at a frantic pace.
Leading by eleven points at quarter time, the Magpies started the second quarter perfectly when Liam Creighton kicked his third after being the recipient of a relayed free kick. The home crowd were left silent when Mitch Cameron kicked the Magpies second goal into the breeze, giving Busselton a 21 point lead. Busher kicked his and Bunbury’s third to keep them in touch midway through the quarter, but Ryan Ekert answered immediately, with Busselton seemingly having all the answers.
Busselton started the third quarter with a long range goal to Ryan Ekert, giving the Magpies a game high 28 point lead. A bullet like pass from Aidan Clarke found Fraser Gilchrist and the Bulldogs scored a precious goal into the breeze. Moments later, Busher took a big pack mark on the goal line, kicking his fourth for the match, and the margin was back to fifteen points. Busselton peppered the goals late without finding the major opening, going to three quarter time nineteen points in front.
Haydn Busher kicked the opening goal of the final term in less than a minute, as the Bulldogs started the final term in the best possible way. Thirty seconds later Dylan Heasman goaled and the margin was back to seven points, and the home crowd had found full voice. Jett Woods goaled from outside fifty a minute later, and all of a sudden the margin was just one point. The match was turned on its head when Aiden Clarke goaled on the run, putting the Bulldogs in front for the first time in the match. Busselton finally got the ball forward and Brodie Howell snapped a goal to put the Busselton back in front by a point.
In a gripping final few minutes, the ball went from end to end with both sides desperate to score. Haydn Busher had the ball on the outer side, eighty metres from goal when the siren sounded, which admittedly was very hard to hear, leading to confusion, as a shot was taken to level the scores, falling well short with Busselton winning a thriller by one point.
Both sides were out on their feet in what was a classic game of football, worthy of a final.
There has only been one other second semi final that has ended with a one point margin, which occured in 1977 when South Bunbury defeated Donnybrook at Hands Memorial Oval.
Bunbury will now play Donnybrook in the Preliminary Final while Busselton will advance to the Grand Final where they will try to atone for last years heart-break, where they lost by a point.
SCOREBOARD
Busselton 4.2.26 7.2.44 8.8.56 9.8.62
Bunbury 2.3.15 3.5.23 5.7.37 9.7.61
Goals: Busselton – Liam Creighton 3, Ryan Ekert 2, Mitchell Cameron 1, Brodie Howell 1, Brayden Lawler 1, Tony Notte 1. Bunbury – Haydn Busher 5, Aidan Clarke 1, Fraser Gilchrist 1, Dylan Heasman 1, Jett Woods 1.
Best: Busselton – Tony Notte, Jalen Hoffman, Ben Ganzer, Liam Creighton, Jobi Hayward, Mitchell Fraser. Bunbury – Aidan Clarke, Haydn Busher, Tom Oliver, Baiden Parsons, Jaymin King, Mackenna Taylor
Ground: PC Payne Park
Umpires: Braden Surrall, Spencer Drummond, Khye Skoda
Crowd: 1728
Images courtesy of Sharyn Newlands