Inaccuracy costs Northern Football League opportunity to go No.1 in AFL Victoria Metropolitan championship final against Victorian Amateur Football Association

THE  Northern Football League has been left to rue its inaccuracy in front of goal after letting the chance to be crowned Melbourne’s No.1 competition slip through its grasp.

Victorian Amateur Football Association v Northern Football League at Princess Park Carlton. Ben Fennell. Picture: Andy Brownbill

THE  Northern Football League has been left to rue its inaccuracy in front of goal after letting the chance to be crowned Melbourne’s No.1 competition slip through its grasp.

Northern dominated play in the opening term against the Victorian Amateur Football Association at Princes Park on Saturday, slotting four majors through slick ball movement to silence the reigning champions.

But the VAFA slowly clawed its way back, led by Jack Bull who nailed his second goal early in the final term to spark the unlikely victory.

Bede Mahon and Adam Pitt then followed in quick succession to give the VAFA its first lead for the day with six minutes to play, and a missed goal late for Northern typified the flavour of the day as the Ammos held on to win, 7.7 (49) to 5.14 (44).

“It’s shattering,” Northern coach Jason Heatley said. “The effort that our guys gave, not only over the last five weeks, but certainly for the game was outstanding.

“We probably didn’t enter forward 50 the way we wanted to, and we couldn’t get someone to catch it. We tried a few different options down there and mixed it up, but you’ve got to give credit to the VAFA, they hung in.

“There was potential there for the floodgates to open, but you’ve got to be able to impact on the scoreboard.” Heatley said his side should feel proud of the way it performed against the reigning champions.

“Yeah, we had our moments. We really wanted to control the corridor and I thought we did that for parts of the game,” he said.

“If we had 10 boxes to tick, we probably ticked eight of them and still lost.

“You look at this sort of game and I don’t think I’ve seen a quicker game of local footy. These guys have got some sore bodies but what a lead-up for them to hit their own home-and-away seasons running.”

Ricky Dyson was a victim of the Essendon supplements saga, ruling him out, and Greensborough’s Matthew Hyde pulled out on Friday afternoon after injuring his knee.

“Matty Hyde, to his absolute selfless self ... he wanted to play but also didn’t want to go down and leave us a man short, so I can’t praise him enough for making that sort of call,” Heatley said.

Greensborough’s Jason Rogers was the only injury, a knock to his knee in the opening half sidelining him for the rest of the game.

Burra’s teammate Nick Riddell was named Northern’s best on ground; VAFA’s Harry Tinney kept Shane Harvey to one goal to claim the medal for his side.