Kinglake upsets Old Eltham Collegians as Shane Harvey kicks late match-winner
Shane Harvey added to his collection of match-winning goals as Kinglake produced a stunning upset over Old Eltham Collegians, putting a major dent in the Turtles’ finals hopes.
Northern
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Shane Harvey never fails to deliver in the big moments.
The Northern league goalkicking legend added to his collection of match-winning goals on Saturday as Kinglake pinched a nail-biting five-point upset win over Old Eltham Collegians at Eltham College.
The decisive goal, with two minutes remaining, denied a Turtles comeback from 24 points down early in the fourth term, instead condemning the one-time NFNL Division 3 premiership fancy to a fifth straight defeat.
Nominating for a ruck contest, Harvey was unwittingly shepherded out by his opponent and awarded a free kick 30m out directly in front.
His only goal of the game delivering a 8.7 (55) to 7.8 (50) victory.
Kinglake coach Dave Florance was proud of his team after falling behind late in the game.
“It’s just an old stager using the brains,” Florance said of Harvey’s free-kick.
“There would have been a minute-and-a-half left maybe, there were a couple of unbelievable efforts from Damian Pywell on the forward flank – one against two and managed to keep it in our area.
“We felt like the conditions suited us, I was licking my lips when the weather came in over night – they’re quite a big side.
“We knew they’d come, which they did in the end, and we had to weather storm.
“There were some crucial moments in the last and a couple went our way, which was good.”
Kinglake started strongly, jumping out to a 10-point lead after holding Collegians to a single behind in the first term.
The margin extended to 14 points at half-time as the Lakers slotted an unbelievably efficient four goals straight.
I
n heavy conditions, an 18-point three-quarter-time lead turned into a 24-point advantage when Michael Bongailas kicked the first goal of the final quarter.
However, the Turtles stormed home and took a one-point lead after four answered goals, only for Harvey to intervene.
Kinglake stalwart Rohan King was best-on-ground in the victory, dominant in defence, while ruckman Liam Styles impressed in difficult conditions for big men.
Tom McErlain and Bailey Robinson also impressed, while Damian Pywell slotted a match-high four goals.
“Rohan wound back the clock, he was really good across half-back,” Florance said.
“He just ran straight through the ball, when you’ve played as much senior football as he has, you know the ball is going to skid on so he attacked it head on.
“His passion for the club is unmatched and he was quite emotional after the match.
“Liam has been a twos ruckman for the last few years but with the lack of height we’ve got at the moment he battled on.
“He played the last two quarters without a rest in the ruck and you know what it’s like in the ruck, there’s stoppage after stoppage, and he just kept going.”
For Old Eltham, Paul Vidinopoulos, Jeremy Murphy, Brad Johnstone and Liam Rushton-McCoach all stood tall.
The result sees the Turtles slip out of the top-five for the first time this season and face the daunting task of turning their season around with a trip of Mernda, also fresh off a heavy loss.
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Kinglake faces an equally difficult challenge as it hosts Epping but Florance is confident the club can finish the season strongly and build momentum for 2025.
“We haven’t played with our strongest team, at one stage we had 12 injuries to senior players,” he said.
“We start to get a couple back and two weeks in a row at home is good at this time of year.
“We’ll start to build some momentum so it’s just about staying up and riding that and we think we can do a bit of damage and ride that into next year.”
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