Michael Baccari goals on the siren to secure Wallan drama-filled win over Riddell

A controversial 50m penalty saw Michael Baccari live the dream as his goal on the final siren delivered Wallan a dramatic win over RDFNL reigning premier Riddell.

Sean Morris celebrates a goal for Wallan. Picture: Andy Brownbill

A controversial 50m penalty and kick on the siren has seen Wallan snatch a two-point victory over Riddell.

Michael Baccari was the hero for the Magpies, calmly slotting the goal just seconds before the siren sounded at Riddell’s Creek Reserve.

After a strong contested mark in the middle of the ground Baccari was marched to within 30m of goal after being held by Oscar Besanko as he attempted to play on.

It was a dramatic finish to a finals-like clash between two RDFNL premiership contenders.

The 8.8 (56) to 7.12 (54) result secured Wallan second place and a qualifying final against Woodend-Hesket, while Riddell finishes fourth and faces Romsey in an elimination final.

Brodie Gilchrist gets a kick for Wallan. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Having led all day, the Redbacks held a 12-point advantage mid-way through the final quarter when Trent Stead kicked truly.

However, Matt Perri replied immediately with his fourth major and Brodie Gilchrist and Todd Muldoon kicked behinds to have the margin at four points in the final minutes.

From a boundary throw-in with less than 60 seconds on the clock, Wallan rushed the ball forward, Muldoon weaved through traffic to kick to Baccari who outmarked Besanko and Travis Martin and a match-deciding whistle.

Perri, the leading forward on the ground, said luck was on the Magpies’ side.

“It’s a great win, Riddell is such a great side and always hard to beat at home,” he said.

“They probably outplayed us for the majority of the game but we hung in there and we knew we had a lot of run in our legs and ended up running over them.

“We peppered the goals and I thought we were going to run out of time but we got the 50m penalty and we were lucky to be on the right side.”

Riddell led at every change but will rue inaccuracy in front of goal after having three more scoring shots on the day.

Callum Langborne was named best-on-ground after an impressive performance in defence, while Jake Layley did well to limit Dylan Tarczon’s influence and Hayden Gill was important in the ruck

“Cal is an athletic type, he’s been taking the best forwards of late and (on Saturday) was taking intercept marks and getting his fist in,” Perri said.

“He was super, he’s another confidence player that the win will do him the world of good.

“Jake spent most of the day with Tarczon, he did a really good job.

“Tarczon is a super player, he’s so hard to stop, he’s always going to get the pill so you have to minimise his damage and he didn’t hit the scoreboard so I thought they had a good battle.”

For Riddell, Tarczon was best afield, together with Stead, Tom Eiszele and Bryce Williamson and Lucas Shaw booted three goals.

Wallan enters finals as arguably the form team in the competition after back-to-back two-point wins over Woodend-Hesket and Riddell.

The Magpies will face the Hawks at Romsey Park on Saturday for a chance to play minor premier Diggers Rest in the major semi-final.

“We’ve had two two-point wins in a row over second and fourth, which is good for the group,” Perri said.

“We’re a mix of old and young, so for the younger guys to get those scalps it gives them a heap of confidence.

“In the middle of the year we were losing to the top sides but we weren’t getting blown out of the water, we just needed to fix a few things and it’s all come together and we’re playing well as a team.

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“(Round 17) could have gone either way, we had a few out and they had a few out.

“It’s back to zero-zero, they’ve got a lot of good players, Daniel Toman and Tim Martin are two we have to stop.

“The boys are pretty confident and we’ll get a few back for the game.”

Elsewhere, Diggers Rest go into a finals bye with a 20-point win over Melton Centrals, Woodend-Hesket ended Macedon’s season with a 43-point triumph and Romsey secured fifth with a 16-point win over Lancefield.