ON a day more suited to be sitting by a log fire watching a game of football in the lounge chair than in the emergency umpire's bunker at Centenary Oval, watching our local football stars was like that feeling on election day - you had to vote even though you would have preferred to stay home.
That's the selfish point of view but the players that ran out on to Centenary turned on a great game of footy; a game featuring persistent physical pressure from the first siren to the last that saw Lincoln South win by three points, 9-10 (64) to 9-7 (61).
The strong windy conditions, worth four to five goals, favoured the car park end and Eagles captain Sam Kidney won the toss.
Eagles ruckman Jesse Kemp put his stamp of authority on the game from the first bounce to win the early momentum and nail a best on ground performance.
The Peckers worked overtime in the back half with Jeremy Jackamarra standing out in the early stages and when they won the clearances they had trouble linking up with players forward of the ball, and it was a case of ping pong as the ball went out and came back.
This saw Jarden Stoetzer, who showed he has the all round weather skills, kick the first goal and then from a long bomb to the hot spot the ever alert Jay Williams cleverly stayed behind the pack to goal and these two goals in hindsight gave the Eagles a lead of 16 points and kept the Peckers scoreless at the first change.
The Eagles' first quarter lead of 16 points was the biggest lead of the game until mid-way through the last quarter when they extended a 14-point lead at the end of the third quarter to 25 points mid-way through the last quarter.
The second and third quarters proved to be an even contest with the Eagles kicking 3-4 (22) to 4-7 (31) and in hindsight it proved to be that the Eagles' three goals against the wind were a winning factor.
The Eagles had a lead of 14 points to start the last quarter and if not for Dylan Dunn, who looked like he had put an end to the Peckers' all game challenge with back-to-back goals to give him four goals for the day, the Eagles may have been in trouble.
After a burst from South in the last quarter the game over light was shining brightly and most would have considered the Peckers had run their race, but not the players for as the sun came out to shine, so did the Peckers.
Four unanswered goals from Russell Carbine (two), Michael Burgoyne and James Blewit added to an early long torpedo goal by Lincoln Blewit saw the Peckers kick five last quarter goals to be trailing by only two points.
The game on light was now blazing and with time on approaching the intensity of the game lifted incredibly to a do or die effort by all players.
Considering the creditable effort of the hard slog that both teams had to deal with throughout the game both coaches would have been pleased with their players' win at all cost endeavour.
As the seconds ticked by the demand on the players increased and the game was as hard as it was in the beginning.
The demand for head and body over ball with gang tackling would see no player shirk his duty. The whistle was put away, rightly so, as there were no cheap shots, just good old fashion footy played with spirit and gusto until the end when the final siren sounded with the Eagles three points in front.
It did not matter in the end if the siren saved the Eagles or the Peckers ran out of time, the result on this day was most likely the correct one.
This was a game where all players on the field and the players coming off the bench, when called on, gave their absolute best and honesty to team and jumper.
A remarkable game that turned a dirty day into a thrilling game of non-stop courage with commitment and above all persistent physical pressure.
For Lincoln South all players had their 15 minutes of fame with the young Mitch Hall leading the Eagles' 10 under 21 players.
The all game presence of the Jesse Kemp and Paul White combination with clearances at the stoppages, the run of Aaron Castley, the dashing clearances of Sam Kidney, plus the experience of John Sinclair, who played behind the ball were, in the end, the difference between winning and losing
The Peckers' Michael Burgoyne was simply out outstanding, with the Blewits, James and Lincoln, the ever dodging Devlin Walsh and the 10 players under 21 led by Joseph Burgoyne were outstanding.
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