Port Adelaide coach Matthew Lokan hails Billy Frampton’s moment of magic against Glenelg
An act of individual brilliance from AFL-listed forward Billy Frampton helped swing momentum in a gripping arm wrestle against Glenelg and put Port Adelaide within a game of a premiership and left the Tigers “shattered”.
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PORT Adelaide coach Matthew Lokan hailed a moment of magic and his team’s resilience after his side held off a fast-finishing Glenelg by four points to book its place in this year’s SANFL grand final.
After leading by 16 points at three-quarter time, the Magpies lost the lead 11 minutes into the final term when Magarey Medal favourite Luke Partington goaled on the run from 40m.
It was the Tigers’ third unanswered goal and they had all the momentum as they chased their first grand final appearance since 2008.
But with a piece of individual brilliance, Power-listed key forward Billy Frampton miraculously threw the ball onto his boot just as it was about to cross the boundary line in the Eddie Betts pocket at Adelaide Oval and it landed in the grateful arms of fellow forward Todd Marshall in the goalsquare.
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His straight kick put Port back in front three minutes after Glenelg appeared on course for victory.
Tobin Cox iced the game for the Magpies with a cool finish under pressure seven minutes later.
Luke Reynolds pulled a goal back for the Tigers in the final minute but the horse had bolted.
@PAFC regain the lead, what a team Marshall and Frampton are! @GlenelgFC #SANFL pic.twitter.com/ktGeDZ3IvN
— 7SANFL (@7SANFL) September 8, 2019
“We were under the pump and in big games you need big moments and our guys were able to produce them at the right time,’’ said Lokan, a former Glenelg coach who will lead the Magpies into their second grand final in three years.
“It was a really good contest and both sides were pretty fatigued in that last quarter, so it was just a matter of trying to hang on.
“To do that was pretty pleasing and I am super proud of our boys to be able to hang on in the end because Glenelg are a quality side and we knew they were going to keep coming.
“Trent McKenzie, with 28 disposals and seven marks, was outstanding at full back and it’s really handy to be able to get the week off and freshen up for the grand final.’’
Tigers coach Mark Stone rued lost opportunities for the minor premier, whose last finals win was 11 years ago.
Glenelg, which beat Port convincingly in the two minor round clashes between the teams this season, dominated the inside 50 count 42-32 after quarter-time but made some uncharacteristic mistakes close to goal while many of its entries were poor and cut off by Magpie interceptors McKenzie, Jarrod Lienert and Joel Garner.
“It was a disappointing result, the boys are shattered,’’ said Stone, who is sweating on scans of Ken Farmer Medallist Liam McBean’s sore hamstring.
“We made some mistakes that proved costly — there was the collision (between Luke Reynolds and Chris Curran) late in the third quarter that cost us a goal — then in the last quarter when we’ve got momentum one of their bigs (Frampton) picks it up one-handed on the boundary line and screws it back and they get another one.
“They are the sort of little things that hurt you but overall I thought our effort was super.
“I couldn’t fault them on effort and endeavour and ability to never give up, which is what we’ve built our trademark on.
“But our execution inside 50 wasn’t great, we didn’t take enough marks in there, and there’s a couple of other little things we need to work on and do better against Adelaide next week (in the preliminary final).’’