Draw leaves flat feeling for teams

An eerie silence descended across Hands Oval following Saturday night’s 12.7 (79) draw between South Bunbury and the Harvey Bulls. Both sides, which had equally dominated passages of the game, looked around — at a loss on how to react. Emotions were also running high for Bulls coach Alan Douglas and South Bunbury coach Stephen Bilcich. Both men had been riding every kick and bump from the boundary line as their sides flirted with victory in the final minute. Post-game in the Tigers rooms, Bilcich was bitterly disappointed with the final result. “I was pretty gutted after the game actually,” he said. “I thought we played very good, and our brand of football, for a half and 10 minutes of the last quarter. “And as far as I am concerned, we lost two points today.” Douglas was overwhelmingly proud of his players, who displayed great character away from home. “That (game) was country football,” he said. “I am really proud of them. I said to them after the game that last year we just stopped — and would give them five goals in the last five minutes. In a see-sawing final term, the Bulls led by seven points deep into “red time” — following a goal to Joel Catalano — after coming from behind midway through the quarter. But South managed to salvage a share of the spoils, on the back of multiple deep forward entries and a last-gasp major by Kade Szyszka. When asked if he felt the Bulls had turned the screws late in the game, Bilcich said he believed his men dropped off and was hoping they could bounce back quickly.