North Albury’s Lachie Taylor-Nugent kicked a point after the siren to break Wodonga’s heart in a one-point thriller on Saturday.
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The Hoppers trailed by seven points with five minutes left, but edged home, 12.10 (82) to 12.9 (81) at Wodonga’s John Flower Oval.
“What was really impressive was that we were able to find a way to win,” relieved co-coach Clint Gilson said.
“Last year we wouldn’t have won that game.”
North now finds itself a win out of the five and if it has any dreams of playing finals, that win was a must.
“Definitely, definitely .. it we had lost that, we would have had to have made up another game somewhere,” Gilson said.
The gap between the top and bottom five is so large, North will need to beat the bottom four in both games and then hope for an upset to push into the top five.
And with minutes left, the first part of the equation looked unlikely.
The Hoppers were missing their best players of recent years in Dan Leslie (knee) and Shaun Mannagh (VFL) but, even still, they would have fancied their chances against a Bulldogs’ outfit ravaged by a player exodus over summer.
The visitors jagged a point and then a goal in the frenetic final minutes, before Taylor-Nugent sealed the win.
“We started terribly and, to be honest, we should have been four goals down after 10 minutes, we just looked really flat,” Gilson said.
“Last year when we got behind, our guys would drop their heads, but having the guys in there like ‘Schmidty’ (co-coach Chris Schmidt) and ‘Izzy’ (Isaac Muller), it’s made a big difference.”
The Hoppers won just three games last year to finish eighth, on percentage, but the club’s already matched the victories after just five rounds.
Young defender Tom Gallaway has maintained his outstanding start, claiming best on ground, with his marking and coolness again featuring.
Former Jindera grand final player Julian Hayes played well after being squeezed out by player points restrictions in the first month, while fellow Hume League recruit Will McGrath kicked three goals.
It was a gut-wrenching loss for the Bulldogs.
Ben McPherson, co-captain Jack Russell and Nick Beattie kicked two majors apiece.
Midfielder Josh Hicks played well, racking up possessions, while ex-Kiewa Sandy Creek player Jacob Barber continues to impress at the higher level.
