Oakleigh Chargers players celebrate their grand final win.
UPWEY Tecoma junior Sam Raru was a long way from home on Sunday as he played his role in the Oakleigh Chargers' TAC Cup premiership win at Etihad Stadium.
The 18 year old was running hard in the Chargers' forward line in pursuit of his man deep into the final quarter when teammate Jackson Macrae kicked the game-winning golden point to give the Chargers a one-point win over Gippsland Power.
Under TAC Cup rules, finals matches which are tied when time is up in the final term continue going until someone scores.
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The Chargers were briefed during the week about the need to get a score if the game was tied past 24 minutes in the final term.
Raru said he was getting ready for the kick-in following Macrae's behind as he wasn't sure if time had expired. "When the siren went it was the best feeling I've ever had."
Raru said he was close to exhausted when the siren went but was confident his side had the stamina to keep playing as long as it took to get the golden score.
"In the last quarter I was just running as hard as I could and giving it everything I could get, using up the whole tank," he said. "I knew the boys could stick it out. We've been in similar positions this season and managed to pull through. To the boys' credit we fought back today and won it."
TAC Cup grand final: Oakleigh Chargers 3.3, 7.5, 9.7, 12.10 (82) Gippsland Power 3.2, 4.3, 8.5, 12.9 (81)
Oakleigh Chargers — goalkickers: K Jaksch 2, J Billings 2, E Walmsley, T MacMillan, J Macrae, A Franetic, T Cutler, J Kennedy-Harris, J Toohey, C Vearing.
Best: A Franetic, J Macrae, MacMillan, T Cutler, J Collopy, J Kennedy-Harris.