HE thought the grand final was lost, he thought the shot that ultimately won the match for his side had missed, but there was one thing Panorama FC coach Brent Huie knew for sure - Sunday's title win felt good.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$1/
(min cost $8)
Login or signup to continue reading
The Panorama Goats had not beaten Abercrombie all season, but in their fourth consecutive Bathurst District Football women's premier league grand final they found a way to get the job done and prevail 3-2.
Huie's side shocked their rivals in jumping out to a 2-0 lead, but when Abercrombie scored twice in the space of eight minutes from corner kicks to lock it up, momentum did not rest with Panorama.
However, with 94 seconds left on the clock a fortuitous bounce from a Laura Risch kick put Teegan Ward in behind the Abercrombie defence and she provided a stunning finish.
"Momentum definitely had shifted. Unfortunately corners have been the bane of our existence all season, I was doing the stats and we conceded 68.4 percent of our goals this year from corners," Huie said.
"I thought 'Here we go again, we can't defend a corner and we're going to lose a grand final because of that'.
"But then there was just that moment of brilliance from Teegan. What was she doing? How has she put under the post from there against one of the best keepers going around?
Minor premiers Abercrombie headed into the grand final as favourite, but Panorama FC had survived two weeks of sudden-death football and embraced their underdog status.
They had experienced the weight of expectation that comes with being a favourite when losing last year's grand final to CSU.
"That's we spoke about before the game, how all the pressure was on them. We know what it's like coming into a grand final with all the pressure on, we had that last season," Huie said.
"We were undefeated, we'd scored 100 goals and we managed to lose the grand final, so the pressure always is on the minor premiers in a grand final."
Panorama shocked their rivals when opening scoring in the 24th minute. A Sarah Colman corner kick travelled to the far post in a congested box and Courtney Hayter slotted home.
There was more joy for Panorama six minutes into the second half when a cross was fumbled by Abercrombie's goalkeeper and Ward fired in the lose ball to make it 2-0.
Abercrombie was down but not out. In the 65th minute Kallie Sargent headed in on the far post off a brilliant Ginger Oliver corner kick.
Eight minutes later Abercrombie scored off another Oliver corner, this time Tegan Kilby heading the ball towards goal from the far post before Georgie Carr finished the move off.
That made it 2-all and Abercrombie had momentum, but Ward's cracking finish rescued Panorama.
