A YELLOW card and a fight after the siren put a dampener on a cracker of a preliminary final which saw the Augusta-Margaret River Hawks progress to the 2015 South West Football League colts grand final.
Up against the Bunbury Bulldogs, the Hawks kept pace with their opponent early but a lack of discipline saw them gift Braden McMullen a goal through a free kick.
A late goal to Jake Rodgers saw the Hawks go into the first huddle trailing 4.1.25 to 3.1.19.
Augusta-Margaret River colts coach Ben Horrocks let his young charges he was unimpressed with their lack of discipline in the form of a good old-fashioned spray about "stupid free-kicks."
It obviously worked.
Winning the first ruck contest the ball flew straight into the Hawks forward line for Kane Lafontaine to goal within 30 seconds.
It was then the Bunbury Bulldogs turn to show some immature play, giving up two 50 metre penalties in as many minutes.
A goal to Bunbury's Tobi Horton kept the match close before Sam Monkhouse and Daniel Fairclough converted majors for the Hawks.
Horton kicked his second just before half-time and throughout the entire game, he found a way to keep his side in touching distance.
In a physical clash with plenty of knocks and bumps, Augusta-Margaret River lead 6.5.41 to 6.2.38 at the half.
Young Hawk Matthew Young scored the first goal of the third quarter with Bunbury's Michael Tassone equalising quickly.
As the game got scrappy, Augusta-Margaret River midfielder Joel Coleman was awarded a 50 metre penalty during a scuffle infront of the dugouts.
He bombed the ball in towards the goal square where his teammate Jack McMahon was awarded a free kick for a high tackle – which he converted for six points.
The pain was heaped on Bunbury further through goals to Samson Thorson and a second to McMahon before two goals from Horton steadied the ship.
A goal from Bunbury's Tassone on the stroke of the final change had his side seven points behind, 10.2.62 to 10.9.69.
Piling on the pressure, the Bulldogs forced the Hawks into scoring behinds from the first five scoring shots of the last quarter before Horton was able to score his fourth goal of the day.
McMahon soccered his third goal of the morning off the ground and when Jake Rodgers was awarded a 50 metre penalty to the top of the goalsquare the match looked over.
The large contigent of visiting fans certainly thought so with a chant of "Margies, Margies" making its way around Hands Oval.
But the game was still to deliver one last moment of controversy.
Rodgers was handed a yellow card with two minutes remaining after a second scuffle in-front of the changerooms.
He took his place on the bench and ran out to join his teammates after the final siren where he was struck by an opponent and knocked groggily to the deck.
The umpires were forced to send the two sides on their separate ways which soured an outstanding match.
In the end, Augusta-Margaret River triumphed 12.16.88 to 11.2.68 and will take on Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault in next Sunday's grand final.
On a final note, the umpires in this match, Aaron Andrews, Scott Jones, Matt Stewart, Zac Peachey, Zac Trigwell, Adam Cronin, Phil Downes and Glenn Morrow deserve special praise.
With a grand final berth on the line, both sides were hungry for victory and prepared to take risks.
This necessitated the umpires intervene against a number of high tackles and late bumps.
They did a great job and were not shown the respect those tough decisions deserved by the crowd.
I just hope those who read this don't call me the same selection of choice words they yelled from the boundary line at the men in orange who called it as I saw it.
