All gate records were shattered at Willaura at the 1952 Mininera grand final when Tatyoon defeated Lake Bolac by six points in the last quarter.
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The large crowd witnessed a grueling match full of excitement.
Capably led by Arthur Clar, Tatyoon thoroughly deserved their win.
The Tatyoon side were forced to win the match the hard way. They missed easy chances that should have resulted in goals instead of behinds.
Lake Bolac ably captained by Bill Walker, made most of the opportunities given the forwards up till the third quarter.
Instead of looking for their veteran goal scout, M Carland, who had already secured six majors, flurried forward probes cost Lake Bolac the premiership.
From ten shots they secure one goal and nine behinds. Umpire Netherton had control of the game and some of his decisions were hard to follow.
Bolac won the toss and elected to kick to the hospital end, which was favoured by a slight breeze. Play see-sawed around the centre line for five minutes.
Bolac rucks forcing the ball forward found Garland in position. Marking surely Lake Bolac's full forward had the first goal on the board.
Carland followed up shortly after with another goal from a drop punt, which he exploits very well.
Lake Bolac defenders for 25 minutes prevented Tatyoon from scoring, but Corboy delivered a pass to Smart who made no mistake.
Good play by Taylor was passed on to the Tatyoon skipper in the goal-square and he had the two fiags waving just before the quarter ended.
In the second term, hard bumps were being dealt out by both sides and the play became scrambly. Carland was on the alert to register his third goal for Bolac.
Bolac won the toss and elected to kick to the hospital end, which was favoured by a slight breeze.
- 1952 Mininera Grand Final
Retaliating, Clark scored another goal for Tatyoon.
Carland was sighting the major opening with deadly accuracy and put another goal on the board for his side. Both teams were playing in top gear and Henry made no mistake with a running shot.
Tatyoon's all out desperate attempt to bridge the gap was successful when Smart and Taylor both secured full points just before half time.
During the half-time interval the president of the association presented Arthur Clark, the selected best and fairest player in the association with a suitably inscribed entree dish.
Clark briefly responded. R Keilar's drive forward from the centre formed Bolac's spearhead thrust.
Carland backing up efficiently on the forward line punted another goal from an acute angle. Bolac again dominated the game, but near misses were a big handicap.
Tatyoon persevering found R Drever scouting out for a goal. Both sides were off target and Bolac should have built up a winning lead.
At the last break Tatyoon shified Taylor to centre-half forward and McDougall to full forward and both were successful moves.
With a winning ruck drive, Tatyoon threw every ounce of strength into the game.
Martin roving strongly put Armstrong in possession in front of goals, but his kick was astray.
The crowd were seething with excitement when another shot brought the scores to within a point of one another.
Walker and Timms stood up to a terrific battle in the full back positions and both back lines were defending strongly. Bolac supporters were given a breathing space when Carland cleverly raised both flags.
Tatyoon rucks and rovers combining effectively forced the ball up to Tatyoon's scoring zone and two goals were posted in as many minutes by Armstrong and Smart making the game safe for Tatyoon.
Bolac were quick to seize the advantage of a badly judged kick across goals by a Tatyoon defender.
Murray snatched up the ball within striking distance but his shot fell short.
In a desperate last minute bid, N Robertson and Park tried to turn the tide for Bolac, but Tatyoon held on grimly and won by six points.
Tatyoon 2-5 5-9 6-14 9-18
Lake Bolac 2-0 7-3 8-11 9-12
Tatyoon Goals R Drever 2, B Smart 2, M Taylor 2, A Clark 1, J Corboy 1, K Armstrong 1.
Best B Smart, E Heard, M Taylor, D Martin, A Clark, D Timms, V Hughes.
Lake Bolac Goals M Garland 6, C Green 1, R Henry 1, R Park 1.
Best R Keilar, A Green, R Henry, C Green, M Carland, N Robertson, R Park, W Walker.
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