Sydney snatch thrilling win over North Melbourne as Aliir Aliir, Majak Daw produce heroics

MAJAK Daw and Aliir Aliir were not project players or AFL novelty acts, they were heroes, on Sunday as North Melbourne and Sydney played out one of the games of 2018.

Lance Franklin celebrates a goal against North Melbourne.

THEY have jumped hurdles and fought footy perception all their lives.

But North Melbourne’s Majak Daw and Sydney’s Aliir Aliir were not project players or AFL novelty acts, they were heroes, on Sunday.

Yes, the Swans importantly kept their spot inside the eight and Lance Franklin slotted his 900th goal after losing star onballer Josh Kennedy to a nasty back injury.

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And Jack Ziebell and Ben Ronke both slotted five majors each as the Swans and Roos put on one of the most entertaining games of the season.

But the story was Daw and Allir in Sydney’s thrilling six-point triumph at Etihad Stadium.

After battling each other spectacularly in the air for three quarters, Daw initially loomed as the match-winner in the pulsating final stages.

Aliir Aliir and Oliver Florent celebrate his match-winning goal.

Majak Daw marks in front of Aliir Aliir.

The former rookie slotted his fourth goal from the boundary line with a laser-straight drop punt with barely five minutes remaining to tie scores.

To that point, it was probably his best game of his eight-year career after spending much of this season down back.

And when Ziebell curled his fifth goal with another brilliant snap North looked home.

But enter Aliir.

The Sydney tall was swung forward and, in yet another moment of magic, showed incredible composure icing the sealer on the run.

It was his first goal of his 21-game career, but an unforgettable one.

And when you step back from the wins and losses and hard times players confront in footy, surely this was three hours to celebrate for the whole game.

Lance Franklin celebrates Sydney’s win.

Jack Ziebell kicked five in North Melbourne’s loss.

Aliir fled a refugee camp in Kenya with his Sudanese parents when he was seven and learned to kick a footy in his teenage years in Brisbane.

Likewise Daw’s family escaped the Sudanese civil war and then moved through Egypt to Australia.

We have all doubted him, but his development has accelerated rapidly this season and now coach Brad Scott doesn’t know which third of the ground to play him in, he has grown in various roles this season.

Earlier it was Franklin who put his stamp on the match after bombing home his 900th career goal with a trademark long-range missile in the third quarter.

To that point, Franklin had battled unselfishly up the ground to create space and opportunity for his worker bee teammates.

Assistant coach Stevie Johnson said pre-game Franklin had silently battled injury for most of the season.

Will Hayward celebrates a goal with teammates.

Shaun Higgins puts North Melbourne on the attack.

And, as much as we love footy in Melbourne, you would be forgiven for struggling to pick young Swans Will Hayward, Tom McCartin, Tom Papley and Ben Ronke out of a police line-up.

And those small forwards wreaked havoc at times for the Swans, in a way emulating Richmond’s famed premiership mosquito fleet.

But Franklin returned to the 50m arc in the last term and he produced two clutch moments to slam home the two goals which clawed back North’s last-term lead.

First, Franklin launched another 50m missile and then he showcased his freakish athleticism, keeping his feet in a marking contest to gather up a bouncing ball and snap home the goal before Daw’s.

Shaun Higgins was masterful again through the midfield but without Kennedy the Swans won six centre clearances to North’s two in the last term to prevail.

Jake Lloyd and Dane Rampe were instrumental in the back half and Isaac Heeney and Zak Jones were excellent in the middle.

BEST

North Melbourne: J.Ziebell, S.Higgins, M.Daw, J.Anderson, J.MacmIllan, P.Ahern, T.Goldstein

Sydney: I.Heeney, L.Franklin, B.Ronke, Z.Jones, J.Lloyd, D.Rampe, A.Aliir

VOTES

3. Jack Ziebell (NM)

2. Isaac Heeney (Syd)

1. Lance Franklin (Syd)

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