Watsonia coach Corey McCall says his young side will learn from letting a 61-point lead slip against Epping in Division 3 semi-final

Watsonia made headlines when it blew a 61-point lead in finals on Sunday, but coach Corey McCall says his team will learn from the “gut-wrenching” defeat.

NFL Footy: Heidelberg West v Watsonia 12 July 2014, Heidelberg Northern Football League: Heidelberg West v Watsonia at Heidelberg Park. Watosnia player Jamie Haber. Picture: Eugene Hyland

WATSONIA coach Corey McCall says his side was “stunned” by Epping’s epic comeback in Saturday’s Division 3 semi-final at Whittlesea Showgrounds.

The Saints were 61 points up late in the second but conceded 14 of the last 15 goals to lose 17.9 (111) to 14.13 (97).

“We have a very young side and there was a bit of the deer in the headlights ­effect when (Epping) got the ­momentum,” McCall said.

“Every bounce seemed to go their way, we dropped easy marks near goal.

“We still had our chances, still got forward but nothing was going right. We looked stunned.

“It’s gut-wrenching because in the first two quarters we played our best footy of the season and showed what we’re capable of.”

There was no sign of the heartbreak to come as Watsonia blitzed the side that had edged it by less than a goal twice this season.

Jeremy Bennett kicked four goals and Hayden Mitchell and Andrew Bennett got three each as the superb Saints roared to a 13.4 (82) to 3.3 (21) lead.

Epping just about kept ­itself afloat with the last two goals of the half and in the third, Watsonia’s big day turned to horror as it conceded eight goals and scored none to see its lead whittled to a solitary point at three-quarter time.

“We’ve struggled to put ­together four good quarters all year and it was just a terrible third quarter that cost us,” McCall said.

“We knew Epping would come out and be more physical but we just couldn’t stop the flow.”

Andrew Kidd got the Saints’ only goal of the half to put them six up again early in the fourth but Epping booted the last four majors to complete the misery.

“The good thing is we showed the competition what we’re capable of in the first half.

“Everyone would have said we overachieved a bit because no one had us in finals at the start of the year.

“We felt we could be in a grand final if we played our best stuff over four quarters and at half-time yesterday we thought that was going to happen.

“It didn’t surprise us when we showed we could do it but like I say it’s gut-wrenching that we won’t get the chance to play at least a prelim.”

“This has hurt all our players deeply and we’ll be raring to go next season,” the coach said.

“The goal this year was to give everyone a lift and make them love their footy again and with 10 wins I think we did that.

“We’ll let the dust settle on this and learn from it.”