“I’m speechless, that’s the best feeling I’ve had in my life,” said Brisbane debut Darcy Wilmot. Source: Brisbane Lions.
The Brisbane Lions are heading to the semi-finals after a narrow win over the Richmond Tigers in a game many are calling one of the best in recent times.
At full time the final score was 106-104, with Richmond knocked out of the finals.
It was neck and neck throughout the entire match with no more than two goals between the teams at any given time, but the last moments proved truly heart racing.
With two minutes to go in the last quarter, Richmond forward Tom Lynch marked the ball right in front of the goal post and took the kick which was thought to be a sure six points.
However the goal was reviewed by the ARC and was found to have gone behind with the Tigers now leading the Lions 104-100.
Brisbane managed to get the ball down to their end where Zac Bailey kicked to deep inside the 50. Joe Daniher got it into his hands and kicked a six with almost a minute left of play.
Both teams fumbled around the ball for the remaining minute but as the final siren went off so did the Brisbane crowd and team as it was confirmed they would be heading to the semi-final.
Lions coach Chris Fagan showed praise for his boys but said that more work needs to be done to perform better in the semis.
“We’re not going to get carried away with ourselves tonight and give ourselves a pat on the back but if ever there was a way to win a final and you want to show that you are made of the right stuff, I think tonight we showed that.
“We were probably gone a few times.”
After the match Richmond coach Damien Hardwick called out the ARC technology saying that it wasn’t reliable.
“It hasn’t been for a long period of time. I think we’ve put a lot of money into it and clearly, it’s indecisive still. We’ve got goal umpires, pick which way you want to go.
“I was pretty adamant when it first came out, but the fact of the matter is we saw a pretty good game of footy. One side has to lose, unfortunately that was us tonight.”
Brisbane will face either Melbourne or Sydney in the semi-final.
