Rick Drewer

ANGASTON snatched victory from the jaws of defeat to knock off Gawler Central by five points to claim its third-successive flag in Saturday’s Barossa, Light & Gawler reserves football grand final at Freeling Oval.

Put bluntly, this will not go into the record books as one of the 'great' grand-finals.

For most of the entire match, there were numerous scrimmages, ball-ups, turnovers, indecision, fumbling, contested possessions – all adding up to an ugly game.

Tiger Adam Byster got proceedings under way with a brilliant snap on goal from out of the pack at the four-minute mark.

Daly Eichner was getting first hands on the ball at the coal face, while Matt Taylor-McDonald and Paul Bova were good contributors for Central.

For Ango, Josh Koch, Rhys Garland, Michael Pech and Jackson Ryan stood-up early, but their side trailed by five points at the first break.

Central coach Troy Ellborn was pleased at quarter-time and said it was a “good start, be hard at the contest and use the long option”.

His counterpart, Josh Young, encouraged his Tiger side to “set it up, and go long quickly”.

If the first term was uninspiring, the second was not a skerrick better, with another combined total of 1.5 being scored.

The stand-out contributor for the first half was Byster, being the only one on the ground who was clean with his ball use and repeatedly looking dangerous.

A combined total of 2.10 for the first half demonstrated how tight the game was up to the main break, with the Panthers leading by two points.

The third term was the highlight of the match, with five goals being slotted.

Three came from Byster, who showed how it should be done, while Josh Edwards gave good support.

For Ango, Zak Heintze-Unger, Rhys Garland and Tyler Hutton gave their all to keep the Panthers within reach.

Given the standard of the match, the 15-point Central lead at the last change appeared to be just about enough.

The Tigers’ coaching panel implored their charges to “focus, you have out-played them, rotate the midfield, and outrun them”.

But occasionally, a lucky break in a very even, lacklustre game changes everything.

Ryan's bouncing ball-dribbler goal for Ango was the game-breaker at the three-minute mark.

Two minutes later, Alex Reincke's strong mark and goal gave the Panthers the belief that they were in with a chance.

For the next eight minutes, the game was a stalemate.

Byster's miss from 30 metres was to prove costly as, minutes later, Rhys Garland's off-hands snap on goal snatched the lead for Ango.

The Tigers had one late chance going forward, with Bova kicking the ball inside 50, but the siren sounded moments before Jordan Neat had the opportunity to mark, as the Panthers snatched the victory.

In a somewhat surprising decision, the Leske Medal for best on ground went to Tiger Josh Edwards.