Ivanhoe holds on for heart-stopping win to deny Mernda comeback
Ivanhoe Park is becoming a fortress and Ivanhoe withstood wave after wave of Mernda attacks to claim a heart-stopping win on Saturday.
Northern
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Without a bench, facing a tidal wave of Mernda attack, NFNL Division 3 newcomer Ivanhoe claimed a stirring five-point win on Saturday.
The Hoers fought tooth and nail to deny a ferocious Demons’ fourth-quarter comeback and cement Ivanhoe Park as a genuine home fortress.
Trailing by 18 points mid-way through the final term, Aiden Kesici threatened to win the game off his own boot with two quick goals.
However, the Ivanhoe defence reset and locked down in the dying minutes to secure a heart-stopping 11.4 (70) to 9.11 (65) victory.
Hoers coach Wayne Schultz was in awe of his players resilience under immense pressure.
“I’m pretty proud of our young brigade, everything we asked of them they executed well,” Schultz said.
“Our pressure game was really good, we felt they may not have faced a huge amount of relentless pressure to date and that might be a real advantage.
“Our defence really held up again, we’ve been keeping sides restricted on the scoreboard and that’s becoming our DNA.
“The game certainly could have gone either way, Mernda beat us up with entries so credit to our mids rolling back and our backs, we forced Mernda’s shots wider and further out.
“Credit to Fletch and the crew, they adjusted significantly to chase us down and we lost some structural things which tipped in Mernda’s favour.
“It was an awesome last quarter, Mernda started to beat us up around the clearances and with minimal rotations, our petrol tickets were out, it was just about hanging on.”
Ivanhoe jumped out to a 12-point lead at quarter-time and extended the margin to 20 points at the half.
The club’s relentless pressure was matched by its efficiency in front of goal, booting 8.2, with Ash Close particularly dangerous.
However, the game turned after the break.
Mernda took control around the stoppages but could not take advantage on the scoreboard, narrowing the margin to 17 points.
When 16-year-old Lincoln Coffey booted the first goal of the last quarter it was game on before Ben Cococcia booted his fourth major and Sam Aanensen steadied the ship for the home team.
It proved decisive, despite Kesici’s late burst, as Ivanhoe held firm despite having no bench.
“We had a couple of niggles, nothing huge, but players will need a week off,” Schultz said.
“We had a few out already that will come back in, we rested them to play the long game, so hopefully it won’t impact us next week.”
Flynn Bergman was named best-on-ground in the win, while Nick Geary was outstanding holding Mernda spearhead Bryce Kimuliatis to a single goal.
Ben Ernst, Jamie Lay, Aaron Marks and Kane Veliou also impressed.
“Flynn was solid, really balanced around the ground – he got into good spots to receive the footy and his defensive craft was superb,” Schultz said.
“He’s a bit old school and blue collar for such a young fella and in terms of quality over quantity, he certainly executed his role.
“Nick was outstanding, Bryce kicked seven goals against Epping the week before and we put a bit of time into him knowing he’s a quality player and really dangerous between zero and 30m.
“We put some time in and how Nick could play the best he could and I thought he did a superb job and had some really good support from teammates coming across too.”
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For Mernda, Matt Bawden was best afield, while Josh Mazzarella, Jake Bennett and Shannon Bennett stood tall and Coffey finished with two goals.
The result sees Ivanhoe sit third on the Division 3 ladder with a 3-1 record.
Elsewhere in Division 3, Old Eltham continued its unbeaten start to the season with a 36-point win over Kinglake in Kinglake.
Epping made light work of Heidelberg West with a 61-point win and Fitzroy Stars was too strong for Kilmore in a 69-point win.
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