HEPBURN scraped home by four points in a nail-biter against Beaufort on Saturday.
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The Burras and the Crows were toe-to-toe in a tight encounter that came down to the wire in the final term.
Hepburn had a five-point lead at the first change, but the Graintech Crows came back in the second to lead by a point at half time.
It was a brilliant start by the home side in the third term, with Lachie Pfeifer kicking two majors and Beaufort was out to a two-goal lead.
But the game swung Hepburn's way by the last change thanks to two goals from Steve Carman and one from Lee Cox.
Hepburn had a one-goal lead going into the last quarter and this was extended quickly as play resumed with a major by Brad McKay.
The Crows replied with a Jack Duke goal, but McKay slotted another and the Burras looked home and hosed.
Beaufort rallied and challenged Hepburn in every position, but its attempts at putting a major on the board were thwarted. But three behinds in rapid succession by the Crows saw their hopes leap as they came within 10 points of the Burras.
In a frantic five minutes, Beaufort attacked and finally Duke took a courageous mark and converted. But as hard as they tried, the Crows couldn't crack the scoreboard again.
Hepburn’s Cox and Carman finished with three goals each, while Brad McKay booted two. Best for the Burras included Michael Watt, Joe Malone, Jackson Carrick and Ricky Ferraro. Eye-catching were Segifili Asa Leausa and Finn Anscombe.
For the Crows, Duke kicked three and Pfeifer and Jarrod Trigg booted two each. Among those who rattled Hepburn were Joe Mason, Mick Foster, Lee Marshall and Zac Marrow.
Last-minute changes to the Crows line-up before the clash saw Branden Sternberg, Alex Petrie and ruckman Josh McDermott replaced because of injury.
Hepburn coach Clive Raak admitted to being on the edge of his seat in the last quarter.
"To get a win against such a quality side is really, really good. To come away with a win under the pump is fantastic,” he said.
One of the Beaufort coaches for the day was Rohan Brown, and although being happy with the Crows’ performance, he was disappointed in the late withdrawals through injury.
"Someone's got to lose ... for us it's disappointing we've lost three close ones."