Lavington perfected its 'keepings off' game plan to stun Albury on Saturday in the Ovens and Murray Football League.
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In a pulsating game worthy of a final with six lead changes, Albury overcame a 17-point three-quarter time deficit to draw level with seven minutes left, before a Jack Driscoll mark and goal secured a 13.14 (92) to 11.13 (79) upset.
"I couldn't be prouder, Albury's a great team, we had a plan and stuck to it," elated Panthers' coach Adam Schneider suggested.
"We didn't want to get caught in a shootout because of the way they play, we wanted to keep the ball off them as much as possible and make them chase us.
"The thing I was most proud of was they challenged us in the last quarter and we still found a way to get another one."
The game featured a host of tremendous goals with Albury co-coach Anthony Miles loading up from 45m for the game's first.
The home team, playing in front of the 1982 premiership outfit, jumped the Panthers, who responded midway through the first quarter when Hamish Gilmore burst through the pack and showed poise for a superb running snap.
Team-mate Jack Harland then landed a running 52m bomb, but the Tigers led by five points.
The visitors kicked the first three goals of the term to hold a 14-point break and it was only the defensive marking of Lucas Conlan and a blistering 20-minute patch from former AFL star Jeff Garlett (three goals for the game) that enabled the Tigers to hold a two-point break at half-time.
The mercurial Jake O'Brien then landed a stunning goal as Lavington regained the lead.
Running towards the old scoreboard, O'Brien grubbered the ball towards goal and just as Michael Duncan arrived to stop it, it bounced over his head.
O'Brien snared the game's biggest lead of 18 points at the 19-minute mark when he gathered the ball in one hand and, with two players converging, handballed to an unmarked Shaun Driscoll for a running major.
Three minutes into the final term, Riley Bice landed a 52m effort and then Jacob Conlan kicked long to Fletcher Hart five metres from goal.
When Jacob Conlan also bombed away from 52m, the scores were level.
A rushed behind handed the underdogs the lead again and when the improving Aidan Cook found Jack Driscoll, he made the most of his three marks with three minutes and 42 seconds left.
Billy Glanvill starred with 40 touches, while Cook and Ben Ashley-Cooper featured with two goals apiece.
ALSO IN SPORT:
Tigers' Lucas Conlan (27) and Brydan Hodgson (eight marks) were terrific.
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