Heidelberg’s Josh Minogue lives the childhood dream with match-winning goal
Heidelberg’s Josh Minogue lived the childhood dream, kicking a goal on the siren, to win an extra-time thriller over Bundoora and book a grand final berth.
Northern
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Heidelberg is through to the NFL Division 1 grand final after a heart-stopping extra-time thriller against Bundoora.
Tigers ace Josh Minogue lived every child’s dream, kicking the match-winning goal on the final siren, to snatch a six-point victory in a game that will surely go down in local footy folklore.
The two teams could not be split after 120 minutes at Preston City Oval, locked at 57-all, forcing the match into extra-time with two five-minute halves played.
With just seconds left, Minogue drew a contentious free kick and calmly slotted the goal as the siren sounded to earn Heidelberg a 10.10 (70) to 9.10 (64) win.
Tigers coach Danny Nolan was in awe of both teams.
“Both sides couldn’t have thrown much more into it, both sides couldn’t have played better,” he said.
“We’d gone through plans A, B, C and into D then both sides were cramping and plans E and F started coming into it. It was hectic.
“We didn’t have a plan for extra-time, it wasn’t thought of, and we only got a heads-up a couple of minutes before the siren that we weren’t allowed out on the ground and it was left to the players.”
Bundoora held a nine-point lead at three-quarter-time and looked on track for a famous victory before a late Heidelberg surge.
With just three minutes left in regulation, ex-AFL star Brayden Sier kicked the equaliser to save the Tigers and force extra-time.
Luke Bunker put Heidelberg in front with the only goal in the first period before John Jorgensen took a strong pack mark to level the scores once again.
With just seconds left Minogue was given the chance to win the game and didn’t miss.
Sier was a standout best-on-ground, finishing the match with three goals, while Matt Smith, Brody Tardio and Tom Schnerring also impressed.
Nolan was rapt for his two match-winners.
“I don’t think (the free kick) was luck, he’d battled all day Josh, he couldn’t have presented any harder,” Nolan said.
“It was what every kid dreams of and Josh got to produce it, kicking a goal on the siren to put us through to the grand final. It was awesome.
“Brayden was very strong, he kicked big goals when goals were hard to come by.
“The game was played between the 50s a lot so goals were gold and he was instrumental in kicking three and really stood up when he had to.”
Co-captain Brent Marshall was named Bundoora’s best in defeat, while Jackson Davies, Jesse King (two goals), Kain Proctor and Joel Fitzgerald also stood tall.
The result sees Heidelberg move through to the grand final on September 17, the Tigers first decider since winning the 2016 premiership.
Bundoora will play the winner of Sunday’s minor semi-final between Montmorency and West Preston-Lakeside in next week’s preliminary final.
If the Tigers are to claim the flag, they will have to overcome the week-off curse, as the past eight – and nine of the past 10 – premiers have gone through the preliminary final.
However, Nolan believed the week off had helped his team survive Saturday’s test and another break would prove invaluable heading into the grand final.
“I think so, yeah, we like to hold ourselves as a pretty fit side so maybe it was that week off that got us through but I can tell you now the guys were out on their legs by the end,” he said.
“(The second week off) will be very valuable for us.
“The boys are doing recovery right now and we’ll probably have an easy Tuesday before ramping it up on Thursday and on the weekend.
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“We’ll try and keep a lid on it this week and get excited about it next week.
“It’s a good time of year, it starts getting warmer, the grass is growing and it’s when you want to be playing footy.”
In reserve grade, Heidelberg lost its first game of the season, going down to Bundoora by 27 points and will play either Montmorency or Greensborough in the preliminary final.
However, the Tigers’ Division 1 Under-19s team is through to the decider after a 35-point win over West Preston-Lakeside.
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