A SPIRITED effort from the OandK Alpine Eagles side wasn't enough to book an early grand final berth, with the side going down by 11 points to Benalla All Blacks at the weekend.
Wearing Bright jumpers to avoid a clash with the All Blacks, the match didn't end without its dramas.
The scoreboard read wrong in the last quarter when the Eagles hit the front by four points after trailing by 31 at the last break.
It showed the All Blacks were in the lead for the entire last quarter, but the goal umpires revealed after the match that Alpine had actually hit the front before Benalla kicked the last two goals of the match to seal an 11-point win.
"It was really disappointing about the scoreboard," frustrated coach David McKinnon said.
"Our plan was to throw everything we had at them, I had all of our best players up forward.
"If I had known we were in front I would've done things differently.
"To Benalla's credit they were able to kick the last two goals of the game, but it showed we can definitely beat them.
"The match was great, the umpiring was really good and the standard of footy was exceptional.
"The only thing I could criticise is the scoreboard and our guys' inability to play four quarters."
Alpine got off to a brilliant start and took an eight-point lead into the first break thanks to strong running and inaccurate kicking from the All Blacks.
But kicking with the breeze in the second, Benalla turned the match on its head and blasted five goals to the Eagles' one behind.
After halftime Alpine came out with more bite and the contest was on a more even playing level, with both sides having their share of forward entries, but trailing by 31 points at the last change there needed to be a special effort from the young side.
With a reshuffle of positions the Eagles attacked the game and started to kick a flurry of goals.
The likes of Jack Fraser, Jesse Thomson and Jai Dykstra stood up and had an influence on the game while Sam Davie, Rhys Andreatta, Nathan Smith and Mitch Dalbosco were brilliant for the Eagles throughout the entire match.
An upbeat McKinnon said there was a lot to like about his side's performance, and hoped for a repeat effort when they take on Tarrawingee this weekend for another chance to play in the decider against Benalla in two weeks' time.
"All the kids stood up when they had to, I was thrilled with how they went about it," he said.
"The guys that sat on the bench for a lot of the game took it really well - they know they are just as much a part of the side as everyone else.
"The key is we have another chance, if we beat Tarra we'll get to have another crack at them and I know we can beat them."
The Eagles will lose Davie for the rest of the season due to unavailability, but gain Mitch Sunderland and Jake Lancaster.
By - ALEX BAIRD.
www.nenews.com.au
STANDOUTS: Mitch Dalbosco was one of the Alpine Eagles' best players in Saturday's loss to Benalla All Blacks.
PHOTO: Cate Long
Last Modified on 07/09/2011 16:25