Three games into his first grade career, East Wagga-Kooringal teenager Caleb Wild was hailed the King of Gumly on Saturday following an after-the-siren goal to snatch victory against rivals North Wagga.
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With his side down by three points and struggling to get within range, Wild popped up to take a strong mark milliseconds before full-time.
He'd barely hit the ground when the siren sounded but the 17-year-old strode back and, from 40m out on a slight angle, kept his cool and kicked truly for a dramatic 8.3 (51) to 6.12 (48) win at McPherson Oval.
It was a kick that maintained both the Hawks' unbeaten start to the season and their habit of breaking North Wagga hearts.
"He was very composed, wasn't he?" EWK coach Matt Hard said.
"For a young kid playing his third game, geez... that's the beauty about youth. They don't overthink it. They just go back and kick the goal. It was a good grab too - a contested mark from a rushed kick in. Luck's a fortune, as they say!"
Saints kicked more behinds in the game than the Hawks had scoring shots. Their inability to take advantage of chances meant they trailed from the 10-minute mark of the first quarter to the 22nd minute of the last.
That was when a goal to Dayne Hancock, desperately getting boot to a rolling ball centimetres before it crossed the line, put Saints up by a point. They locked the ball in their forward half for the next three minutes, adding a couple of rushed behinds, and with 60 seconds to play seemed to have done enough to win.
However, the Hawks headed up the western wing and found one famous last score to spark Wild celebrations.
"I actually did (think we were done)," Hard said.
"They hit the front with a couple of minutes to go and had their tails up so I lost a bit of confidence in that last bit of play. I thought, 'We're going to need something here.'
"We won ugly and last year we probably didn't win ugly... we turned the footy over way too much today but we held on to win so it's good."
Wild kicked the critical goal but the real match-winner was Hawks defender Trent Garner who was outstanding. In a game dominated by turnovers whenever the teams went forward, Garner was rock solid in preventing the Saints getting on top.
The low-scoring affair consistently swung from half-back line to half-back line, punctuated by the odd critical goal to the Hawks - through Nick Hull, Daniel Hitchens, Chris Ladhams, or Wild (who all kicked two) - to keep their noses in front at every change.
"Full credit to our back six led by Trent Garner who I thought was outstanding down back," Hard said.
"He took some great marks and killed the contests. He's a leader in our footy club and we hold Trent in very high regard.
"It was a real game of back and forth or 'force 'em back' as they call it. But we were lucky enough to be in front at the right time.
"Four points is always important and this one here, I'm a big believer in getting money in the bank early."'
Hard was down on his side's skills and decision making but pleased with their backmen keeping them in it.
Saints' defence also hung tough, limiting Ladhams to a goal from a free kick and one from a mark when hit beautifully by Hull. But North Wagga struggled to put pressure on the scoreboard in the passages when they were on top, until Cayden Winter stepped up with some big plays, including three big second-half goals, to get his side in a winning position.
North Wagga missed Corey Watt and Kirk Hamblin but their third out, ruckman Blake Thompson, was a big blow, with forwards James Morris and Hancock required to ruck.
They'll rue it as a blown opportunity - as they did against the Hawks in this round last year - but at the same time learnt that if you don't put a game away, it can get away.
The Saints take on Charles Sturt University at Robertson Oval next Saturday evening while the Hawks host Barellan at Gumly.
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