WITH one kick Nick Horsford realised many footballers' dream, booting a goal after the siren to win a grand final.
When Horsford marked Hayden Burgiel's kick 40 metres out from goal, the Eagles trailed Traralgon by three points. Horsford's goal after the siren gave Maffra a three-point win, sparking massive celebrations among the Eagles' faithful and utter dispair in the Maroons' camp.
Maffra trailed for much of the West Gippsland-Latrobe Football League grand final until that kick to win 7.27 (69) to 9.12 (66).
It was just the third time in league history a team has won the grand final despite kicking fewer goals than its opponent.
The win was described by coach Graham Robbins after the game as one of the best in the club's history.
In reality Maffra should have won by more, but wayward kicking for goal kept the contest alive, especially in the final term when the Maroons did not have any fit players left on the bench.
Maffra's 27 behinds is a record number of behinds kicked by a team in a grand final, beating the 24 behinds kicked by Leongatha in 1970 and 1995 and Traralgon in 1998.
In another league record, the gate at Morwell was $36,171.
The efforts of Craig Robbins and Ben Durrant were recognised with the VCFL and Stan Aitken medals respectively.
It was a good day for Maffra teams, with the Eagles under 16 football and under 15 netball teams claiming premierships, the latter coming against Sale.
The Magpies weren't without success on Saturday though as they took out the under 17 netball title.
In the seniors, Maffra welcomed back Hayden Burgiel after sustaining a sunken eye socket four weeks earlier, he played with the match with a helmet. Gippsland Power player John Butcher and eventual hero Horsford were also included in the side.
Neither side was willing to give an inch early as it took 11 minutes for the first score to be registered.
Two minutes later, Maffra defender Sam Tudor's effort in attacking the ball was reward with a free kick, his pass found Ben Robbins, who was knocked down after taking the mark and received a 50 metre penalty. He duly converted his shot for goal from directly in front.
Tim Aitken kicked the responding goal for Traralgon. That was to be the final goal of the first term with the Maroons leading by three points.
Traralgon kicked out to what appeared to be a match-winning 18-point lead by half-time, kicking 5.4 to 1.7.
Tim Aitken's handpass set-up Kane Grinstead-Jones for the first goal of the term for Traralgon.
Ben Batalha combined with David Adams and Brendon Rathnow to get the ball to Butcher, whose goal put the Eagles in front.
Goals from Tim Johnson, Tim Aitken, Brad Hazelman and Rohan Hore gave the Maroons a 19-point lead, aided by the Eagles' inaccurate kicking for goal.
Goals were hard to come by early in the third quarter, Rathnow booting the first on the run 10 minutes in to cut the margin to 14 points.
Jed Costigan then showed good pace on the wing to get the ball to Daniel Stubbe for another goal.
Traralgon's lead got out to 17 points before Horsford kicked his first goal then Rathnow finished off a free-flowing move out of defence to cut the deficit to three heading into the final change.
When Aitken kicked the opening goal of the final term in what had been a low-scoring affair, the premiership was seemingly heading to Traralgon, but Maffra then began to dominate the run of play.
It was a combination of desperate Traralgon defence and poor kicking for goal which prevented Maffra from taking the lead earlier than it did.
The Eagles kept chipping away at the Maroons' lead, continually being forcing turnovers from the kick-ins after behinds.
Eventually something had to give, but it wasn't until Horsford's major after the siren that it happened. That was Maffra's only goal for the final term, during which it kicked 1.9.
Craig Robbins, Adams and Michael Coleman were sensational in the midfield, winning the hard ball and giving teammates good goal-scoring opportunities.
Coleman on Sunday claimed the club best-and-fairest award, following on from brother Ben, who won the award last year.
Butcher showed off his talent with a great marking display, while Durrant and Josh Stubbe provided good run out for defence.
Jaime Aitken, Ryan Potter and Leigh Cummins were solid in defence for Traralgon, holding out the Eagles until the final second, when it mattered most.
Matt Smith and Daniel Pahl played well in the midfield, combining with ruckman Hore.