EFL 2018: South Croydon stages remarkable comeback win against Norwood in the Eastern Football League
SOUTH Croydon reeled in a 55-point halftime deficit to stage a stunning come-from-behind win against Norwood after Norsemen swingman David Johnson missed a shot after the siren to pinch victory for his side.
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IT was almost heartbreak again for South Croydon.
After the Round 12 defeat with the last kick of the game against Doncaster, Norwood swingman David Johnson had a shot after the siren to keep the Norsemen’s slimmest of finals hopes alive on Saturday.
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His side had remarkably led by 55 points at halftime but the Eastern Football League Division 1 clash rested on his boot after South Croydon staged a stunning comeback.
Johnson’s shot from about 40m out on a 45-angle at Mullum Mullum Reserve sailed right, giving the Bulldogs a three-point victory.
South Croydon coach Luke McCormick was lost for words to describe the contest.
“One of the strangest I’ve ever seen,” McCormick said.
“They had 14 to one scoring shots in the first quarter, we had 14 to one scoring shots in the third quarter.
“It’s fair to say I wasn’t happy (at halftime), was able to give them a fairly good spray. I think a couple of home truths (were told), we obviously just didn’t respect them enough so that’s what it comes down to.
“In a season this close you want character-building moments, incidents and efforts throughout because you are going to have to call on them and Saturday was the biggest character building game.”
Despite being without spearhead Leigh Williams, who was a late withdrawal, Norwood kicked nine goals to one in the first half to be on track for one of the upsets of the season.
But in a staggering turnaround, the defending premiers kicked seven unanswered goals in the third quarter to trail by just seven points at the final change.
Jake Tucker put South Croydon 10 points up at the 24-minute mark of the last quarter only for Jayden Kroussoratis to respond with a quick reply to cut the margin to four points.
With just seconds remaining, Rhett Jordon pumped the ball into the forward line where Johnson pulled in a contested grab only to miss the conversion and give South Croydon a 13.12 (90) to 12.15 (87) victory.
The result maintained the Bulldogs’ one-game advantage in the top three ahead of the Round 15 clash against Blackburn.
“We looked at it afterwards and thought, ‘we definitely would have been back in the pack’, and to make it even closer obviously the Vermont (loss to Doncaster) result,” he said.
“At the same time, Blackburn next week is probably, after such a crazy year, is probably the most crucial game we’ve had so far.”
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