A defensive battle was the theme of the day, with both sides moving players up the ground to congest the centre corridor.  

During the early stages of the contest, the scoring relied heavily on the football being launched into open space for the waiting forwards.

The Hotondo Homes Lakies’ margin increased over the course of the second and third quarters – they led by 30 points at the final change – as Ryan Barnes and Brodrick Campbell combined to kick goals. 

The Cats looked inspired in the final term, however, as they stormed onto the scoreboard with five unanswered goals to clinch the 9.9 (63) to 9.8 (62) triumph.

Momentum started to swing as Will Young demonstrated strong marking abilities, while Nathan Skewes swooped onto the loose ball up forward to slam home vital majors.

In the dying minutes of the match, Newlyn assistant coach Dan Wehrung kicked the winning goal to send the home crowd wild.

He said it was satisfying to see his team never give up.

“I think we only kicked four goals for the first three quarters and the game opened up a bit in the last,” Wehrung said.

“We had faith, but the way we did it was really impressive.”

Learmonth coach Brenton Powell said that attempting to protect a 30-point lead was to blame for a final term fade out.

“Three quarters we were fantastic, I thought, and it was just that last quarter obviously,” Powell, who is still on the sidelines because of an injured hand, said.

“I think we tried to save the game rather than win it and we went into our shells a bit, which cost us.”

Todd Curran and Jackson Ford performed well for the Lakies, while the Cats were led by the pressure of Wes Carter and Daniel Hammond in defence.

Newlyn is now 11^th on the ladder and looks ahead to a clash with Daylesford next weekend, while Learmonth, which is 13^th after just two wins, will aim to bounce back when it faces Skipton.