Romsey staged a second-half comeback to stun Wallan and end a nine-year drought
It had been nine years since Romsey won at Greenhill Reserve but the Redbacks produced a remarkable second-half comeback to stun Wallan.
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Romsey produced a stunning upset to defeat Wallan by 11 points on Saturday.
The Redbacks were 26 points down at half-time but rallied, kicking seven goals to one in the second half, at Greenhill Reserve.
The come-from-behind 9.8 (62) to 7.9 (51) victory is Romsey’s first over the Magpies since 2017, ending an eight-game losing streak, and first away since 2015 – its last RDFNL premiership season.
Justin Waldron excelled in the ruck, while Chris Petroro was named best-on-ground for his work in midfield and 2023 Rising Gun Darcy Lockens booted three goals.
Redbacks coach Justin Sherman said it was incredibly pleasing.
“It’s a very pleasing win and the way we win, we were challenged and stood up and weathered the storm,” Sherman said.
Wallan are always going to be favourites on their home ground and we were under no illusions but the reality is, we weren’t at our best for four quarters and we won playing a half of footy.
“We knew it was going to be a tough contest but the most pleasing part was coming from behind.
“It’s something we were a bit inconsistent at last year, finding ways to hang in contests and challenge opposition.
“You’ve got to win the ball first, so we wanted to focus on the contest and get that right, and then backs can start anticipating and forwards can lead that bit harder.
“Our mids had to go to work and I thought they were tremendous in the second half, along with our ruckman Waldron.”
Waldron rucked against Magpies tandem Chris Stewart and Patrick Mahoney, taking control in the second half.
Petroro, Callum Sankey, Corey Pertzel, Matt Burkett and Nathan Blair then went to work on the ground.
Romsey kicked just two goals in the first half but turned the game on its head in the third quarter.
The Redbacks slammed on five goals to nil to take a three-point advantage into the final change and could have extended the margin if not for a 2.5 final term.
“To kick seven goals to one in the second half shows a fair bit if our resilience and character and is reward for the work we’ve put in over the off-season,” Sherman said.
“It wasn’t a rocket but I got my point across (at half-time) … the guys responded and we were a completely different unit.
“I thought (Wallan’s rucks) got on top early with their physical presence, I thought Patty Mahoney was quite good on the day.
“Obviously coming up against two decent ruckman it was always going to be a massive challenge and we spoke to Juzzy about that, we just wanted him to compete.
“I thought after half-time he was brilliant, Juzzy really came into his own in the second half and his strength is getting around the ground, it’s like an extra midfielder.”
The win is even more meritorious with Romsey missing reigning league-leading goalkicker Jack Jedwab.
Lockens kicked a game-high three goals to lead the attack, while Burkett added two.
Sherman said finding new avenues to goal had been a pre-season focus for the club.
“We spoke about guys chipping in, whether that’s resting midfielders or guys sharing the load,” he said.
“As great as Jack is, we love him and he’s so well respected at our footy club, we probably won’t see him a lot.
“There’s a sense of unpredictability for opposition, you can’t plan for Jack now, so we’ve worked hard on other guys bobbing up.
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“Darcy kicked three and we know he’s going to get more attention so we’ve got plans in place to work around that and he still impacted the game.”
For Wallan, Stewart was named best-on in his Magpies debut, while Callum Langborne, Michael Mannix and Sean Morris also stood tall.
Jacob Langborne was the only multiple goalscorer for the home team with two.
Elsewhere, Diggers Rest kicked off its premiership defence with a 49-point win over Lancefield and Riddell took care of Macedon by 11 points.
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