THE world-first Three Teams Football experiment at Dock Lake Reserve on Saturday was hailed a massive success from all clubs involved.
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Hierarchies from Taylors Lake, Noradjuha-Quantong and Horsham RSL Diggers all gave great feedback about the match and entertained the possibility of making it a yearly event.
The Lakers won their first match for 2013 and picked up the $1000 prize after ex-Horsham Demon Jayson Thompson, who signed up with the club on Friday, kicked the ‘golden goal’ during extra time.
Taylors Lake and Noradjuha-Quantong were tied at 65 apiece at the final siren, meaning the next goal from either of the two teams would result in a victory.
Horsham RSL Diggers, who looked down and out after trailing by as much as five goals, kicked the first major of extra time to get within nine points of their opponents.
Bombers key forward Jordan Huff had a chance to snatch the game with a set-shot from about 50 metres, but couldn’t make the distance in breezy conditions.
Shortly after, it was Thompson’s strike that sealed the deal.
Taylors Lake playing-coach Deek Roberts, who was arguably his side’s best along with fellow returning player Pat Purcell, said it was great for the club to come away with a win.
“The club obviously didn’t see too much success last season, but we’re doing everything we can to turn that around,” he said.
Roberts couldn’t speak highly enough of the event and said it was good enough to run annually between the three clubs.
Organiser Gabrielle de Vietri was delighted everything went according to plan.
“I couldn’t have written the script any better myself,” she said.
“The rules functioned, the crowd really enjoyed watching it, it was entertaining and the players put everything into it.
“A lot of people were blown away that it actually worked.”
It wasn’t only an extra team and set of goal posts added to the contest; live music and streamed commentary gave the match another dimension.
Horsham RSL Diggers president Peter Miller admitted he was surprised at how smoothly it ran.
“There’s certainly some potential in a match like that,” he said. “I expected it be a defensive match but it was far from it.”
Noradjuha-Quantong president Ian Wilson praised the organisers for putting on a great day.
“They put a lot of work into it,” he said. “The oval was nearly two-thirds full of cars, which was pretty good.”
Wilson believes the model could be used for a pre-season competition or at training.
A documentary on the event will be released early next year.
