The best was saved for last in the sixth round of the 2022 Veolia Limestone Coast Women’s Football League season last weekend.

After two days of blow outs and abandonments, Kongorong and North Gambier put on a show in a grandstand finish on Sunday afternoon.

From the opening bounce it was clear both sides were bracing themselves for a fight with a couple of spot fires surfacing around the ground.

It set the tone for remainder of the day as the fight for possession was fiercely contested.

Space was hard to find around the ground as both teams tackled hard.

The congested play meant neither side could discover the goals in the first term, but the Tigers managed scrape out a hard-earned lead early on, but the Hawks were always there to keep the visitors honest trailing by only two points.

Scoring picked up in the second quarter as the game opened.

Dianne Wilson was the main target for North with her pair of goals helping the yellow and black stay in front in the tight battle on the scoreboard.

Thanks to the hard work of Lorrelle Walker, Fiona Young and Chloe Perryman, the Tigers were winning the war of attrition and managed to maintain their 10-point lead at the half and three quarter time breaks.

Having already fronted up in an Under 16’s contest Jade Longbottom showed an enormous amount of courage in the senior game.

After surviving several hard hits, Longbottom had enough composure to bounce back and continue attacking the ball at full force.

She was the big driver behind Kongorong’s stunning comeback in the final term.

With the game on the line, the Hawks stepped up restricting the Tigers to a solitary behind in the crucial passage of play.

With just five minutes left on the clock, Kongorong made a late charge to steal the contest.

Two majors from Taylor Cozzi, plus goals from Marnee Formosa and Kate Wright helped the hosts get into position to launch the assault, but a flurry of behinds were enough to get them over the line.

Once the final siren marked the end of four intense quarters, Kongorong emerged victorious by three points to continue the club’s dream season.

Hawks’ coach Michael Dethmore said it was a nail-biting afternoon from the sidelines.

“I will admit it was quite tense in the last few minutes as we tried to hang on,” he said.

“In the end it was a close three-point win and it was a thrill for the girls to win a match on their home ground for the first time.

‘We were aware this match would take a full four quarters to come away with the win and it was a hard-fought tussle to the end.

“It was a great learning experience for the girls to find out how to win these types of matches.”

The other game at Kongorong was tipped to be the match of the round as premiership hopefuls Kybybolite and Penola went at each other to steal second spot on the ladder.

The Eagles entered the game full of confidence after an undefeated start to the season, but suffered a reality check as Kyby made a statement and showed its class.

Led by the calm coaching of Luke Crossling, Kybybolite silenced Penola’s hopes in grand style.

The ferocious attack of Tyler Atkinson and speed of Ella Jones led the charge as the black and gold team assaulted the scoreboard.

Dellie Brown and Victoria Boddington also played strong support acts to provide the forward line with ample opportunities to score.

Their work allowed the likes of Lily Gill and Sophie Henschke to have a field day in front of the big sticks.

Gill and Henschke both kicked bags of four goals to ensure the Eagles had no hope of mounting a fightback.

The usual suspects of Angela Broad, Caroline Mcgrath and Emma MacDonald fought hard for Penola with the former kicking a hat-trick of majors.

However, their efforts were not enough as they received a reality check after Kybybolite won by 41 points.

The round did not get off to a flying start was Casterton Sandford spoiled Millicent’s party on Friday night.

The Saints dreamt of getting their first win of the year in front of their home crowd under lights at McLaughlin Park.

However, any optimism was dashed by a clinical Casterton Sandford side which showed no mercy.

From the first bounce the Cats showed their dominance by winning the first clearance and not looking back.

Zhane Crawford and Gabrielle Sullivan were in fine form winning the ball in the middle and consistently giving Millicent’s backline something to think about.

The Saints defenders struggled to resist the constant challenges as the likes of Sophie Arkun and Lauren Sykes ran riot.

Arkun and Sykes both kicked a trio of goals and were well supported by Sullivan, who bagged a pair of her own.

The likes of Crawford, Chloe Foster, Makayla Hutchins and Scarlett Jarrad also found the big sticks to propel the Victorians into triple figures.

After four one-sided quarters the scoreboard read 100-0 Casterton’s way.

The fixture was supposed to be followed by Kalangadoo v Mundulla, but the fixture was abandoned due to several factors including COVID-19 outs.