North Albury match-winner Josh Minogue admits he tried to forget his horror round six effort against Lavington when lining up the game's last shot on goal.
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The 26-year-old regained the lead when he drilled a 45m shot, just off centre, with under two minutes left last Saturday.
"The first time we played them I had 11 shots on goal and kicked two, so there were certainly a few demons in there, but just tried to keep my routine, keep it as simple as that and don't overthink it too much," he revealed.
The Hoppers lost an 11-point thriller to Lavington on May 13.
North kicked 5.15 as the home team landed 7.14.
Coach Tim Broomhead was proud of the forward's mental strength.
"He missed a fair few in the last quarter (against Lavington) and it might have been going through his head, so for him to go back and have the composure to kick that goal, he was the match-winner at the end of the day with that goal and his final mark," he said.
Minogue has the mark of the year favourite after a superb pack effort, in defence, with only 36 seconds left.
It was one of his eight marks, along with an equal year-high four goals, 17 touches and seven score involvements.
The 192cm, 90kg forward won the O and M's Rising Star award in 2014 before joining VFL club Williamstown two years later and Northern League outfit Heidelberg in 2019.
"It's pretty special (to be back), I played my juniors here and never played finals (in seniors), so we were always starved for success, it's been much the same the past seven or eight years while I've been away, the old man (Mick) played a bunch of games here as well," he offered.
North claimed last year's wooden spoon with one win, but has had a stunning season to sit just a win outside the top five, albeit with a sizeable percentage deficit, with three rounds left.
