It may had been a dead rubber, but those present at Malseed Park could have been forgiven for thinking finals had arrived a week early when West and North Gambier faced off in a spectacular climax to the 2022 Bendigo Bank Western Border Football League home and away season.

With both teams pushing hard to gain the psychological edge ahead of their sudden-death semi-final at the same venue, thrilling football was the result.

After four breathtaking quarters, it all came down to the final minutes where the Tigers enjoyed a five-point lead following the gutsy work of Ciaran Buckley and Brett Shepherdson.

But their hopes of a disastrous first term performance into a come-from-behind win were thrown into disarray when Jordan Williams pounced on a loose ball and nailed a goal just inside the Roos’ 50.

Suddenly the hosts looked to have the edge with the best part of 10 minutes still to play.

The tension was unbearable as the play slowed and tackles became the order of the day.

In the end North held the most composure and created the most chances at the death.

Although the visitors could not find the big sticks, three behinds pushed the Tigers over the line in a two-point win

North Gambier coach Ben Hardy said the day was all about catching some momentum moving into finals and creating good habits.

“In the last quarter I did not have a sense of who was going to take the game out,” he said.

“But I am glad we were able to fight it out because we have lost a lot of close ones this year, so it is a big moment for the group moving into finals.”

Hardy said it was a particularly impressive performance following a disastrous first term where the long-kicking Roos jumped to a 33-6 lead with Mitch Cornolo and Kyle Giddings running riot, while top Tiger Sam Stafford went down with an injury.

“Coming into quarter time 27 points down was not ideal and I was a little bit frustrated by how we did not play the way we wanted to,” he said.

“To West’s credit they played on their terms, while Sam Stafford went out in the first three minutes of the game.

“So for the first time this year our group had to readjust and find a new avenue to score.

“Although we were down I thought if we changed a couple of things with our ball movement we could scrap it back which is what happened.”

Although Stafford was missing from the forward line, some young Tigers rose to the occasion with usual defender Dale Bachmann stepping up with three and Toby de Wit also scoring multiple majors.

They were the backbone behind North’s fierce response of three unanswered goals in the second term.

Suddenly it was ‘game on’ again and nothing split the rivals throughout the second half.

West was forced to cover the loss of injured playing coach Daron McElroy and young James Baggio stepped up for his first A Grade game, but sadly his debut ended in the stretcher on the stroke of three-quarter time.

These blows hurt the Roos as the Tigers were able to hold on with Buckley and Shepherdson orchestrating the win from the half-back line.