Busselton and Harvey Brunswick Leschenault are equal on the ladder after Saturday’s game saw the Pies play poorly and not score a single goal until the final quarter.
The Pies, having won seven games so far this season, and the Lions, having only won six, meant the Pies stood a fair chance at victory at Brunswick Oval after the Lions very up-and-down season.
The Lions went into the game hungry and knew they needed a win to be level on the ladder and to have any hope of keeping their dream of finals alive.
The home side made its mark after the opening bounce and proceeded to play better than the Pies, who had little to no chance of hitting the scoreboard.
The Pies attempted to attack on many occasions, but the Lions defence were able to turn it over on almost every forward entry.
The Lions defence helped contain the footy with the majority of possession and play in their attacking 50.
The rain held off and 10 minutes in Lion Ben Ablett kicked the first goal of the game and the second goal of his 2018 season.
Following the first goal, two more were kicked from Lion players Kristin Thorton and Rhys Gelmi who placed the Lions at 3.6 (24) going into the second quarter, to the Pies scoreless quarter.
The ground was already in a pretty bad shape and muddy condition before the rain began to fall heading into the second quarter. This turned patches of the ground into a mud bath.
The game slowed down in the second with no goals being kicked from either side which resulted in another scoreless quarter for the Pies and the Lions score of 3.8 (26) at half time.
Heading into the third quarter the rain started to clear and the Pies looked defeated after more goals were kicked by Lion players Kale Tripplet and Kristin Thornton, who both have had a good goal kicking season.
At three-quarter time things weren’t looking good for the Pies with still zero points on the scorebaord, especially with the Lions score at 5.9 (39).
Going into the final quarter, it was starting to look grim for the Pies and looking like they wouldn’t score at all until the Lions started losing momentum.
Out of nowhere the Pies came out firing and kicked three consecutive goals and only one behind.
Goals from Reegan Mrsich, Bailey Sanford and Aidan Fraser finally placed a figure on the Pies scoreboard, but unfortunately they still had quite a bit of catching up to do.
When the final siren sounded it was the Lions who had won at 5.9 (39) to the Pies 3.1 (19).
Busselton league coach Steve Lester said his team played ‘poorly’.
“All credit goes to Harvey Brunswick Leschenault they were just hungry and they handled the ball really well and the pressure was just enormous and we just didn’t cope with the pressure early when it counted,” he said.
“We just needed to lift and become more desperate.”
Harvey Brunswick Leschenault league coach Derek Hall said he was happy with the outcome.
“They were a team just above us on the ladder and to stay in touch with them and keep in finals contention we needed a win and a little bit disappointing we let them off a little in the last quarter but I’m still very happy,” he said.
The Pies best players were Reegan Mrsich, Thomas Begley, Jackson Arbon, Ben Luscombe and Jon Meadmore.
The Lions best players were Jesse Crichton, Rhys Gelmi, Kristin Thornton, Ben Ablett, Jordan Sell and Mitchell Andrews.
Next weekend in round 16 of the South West Football League, Busselton will go head to head with Augusta Margaret River at Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton at 4:30pm.
Harvey Brunswick Leschenault will go up against Carey Park at Kelly Park, Bunbury.