With three pressure-filled minutes remaining on the clock, Yarraville-Seddon held a delicate four-point lead, defending into a strong five-goal breeze against intimidating Caroline Springs on its own turf at the Town Centre Oval.
It was the ultimate character test for the Eagles, who found a way to complete the task and return home with four valuable premiership points.
The results send a clear message to the rest of the league that the Eagles mean business and can now be considered a heavyweight challenger in the race for the top two spots in the Western Region Football League division 2.
And not before time, according to Eagles coach Dean Callaway.
“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves, but inside our four walls, we know we’re a good side,” he said. “We’ve just got to produce football like that each week. Today we did that. We played as a team – it was tough, hard footy, a very physical game, and we came out on top.”
When the heat was applied in the dying minutes, Eagles did everything asked of them to snuff out the Lakers’ threat.
The leaders – Macauley Goring, Lachie Longmire, Jake Rycroft and Scott Krakhoeur – all stood up.
Cameron Vincent was a steadying influence on the backline, while Gareth Newton thrived on the challenge of playing on Lakers star Brian Lake.
Teenager Kevin Johnson showed maturity beyond his years to have an impact in his role down back.
And the rest of the team followed instructions from the coaches’ box to a tee.
“It just showed the character and the composure of the guys,” Callaway said.
“When we had it in our backline, we didn’t just bomb it in hope – we actually pinpointed targets and got it out of our danger zone.
“Every time there was a stoppage, we had the numbers. It was a great team effort.”
Yarraville-Seddon will head into the bye on top of the ladder as the only undefeated team in the second division.
The Eagles believe their best football can match it with any other team in the competition, with this significant victory going quite some way to validating such thinking.
But Callaway knows there is plenty of work to be done for the Eagles to achieve their goal of a top-two finish.
“After the game, I said to the boys, ‘Enjoy tonight, but at the end of the day it’s just another win’,” he said.
“We need to keep winning if we want to cement a top-two spot.
“It’s having that belief in each other … it’s really starting to gel now.”
