Diamond Creek hadn’t put a foot wrong all season – finishing on top of the ladder with only one loss in 17 matches. Its 49-point win over Thomastown in the second semi final meant it had also beaten its Grand Final opponent in all three meetings this year.
The Bears had finished second on the ladder – one game behind Diamond Creek – and had to take the long route to the Grand Final after losing to Diamond Creek earlier in the finals series.
It was going to be a tough assignment for the Bears but they were going to give it their all having clearly proven themselves to be the biggest challengers to the Demons for this year’s premiership
The first ball was bounced at 9:15am and after a tough few opening minutes Oliver Parks got the first goal on the board for Diamond Creek.
Thomastown’s Ricky Weatherall booted his 31st goal for the season to give the Bears the quick reply before Diamond Creek’s major goal scorer for the year, Jayden Shirreff, got the Creekers their second goal of the match.
Marley Kelly was sent off with a yellow card for the Bears following an incident on the wing right before quarter-time. However, his absence didn’t prove costly with Diamond Creek unable to score another major for the term as it headed into the first break with a seven-point buffer in a low-scoring battle.
After the break both teams were still hard at the ball but it was Diamond Creek’s Nathan Searle who got the first of the quarter with a nice kick from 45m out.
Then Luke Vale, after a brilliant handball over the defender’s head, waltzed in for an easy goal from 20m to give Diamond Creek a three-goal buffer halfway through the quarter.
Jordan Young stemmed the Creekers’ momentum by getting his first of the day late in the second – the goal a much needed one for Thomastown before the main break which cut Diamond Creek’s lead to 12 points.
The opening minutes of the third quarter were very tight and both teams couldn’t manufacture a score. However, once Thomastown managed the first goal, the underdog sprung to life.
The Bears kicked the next four goals, including three in five minutes, with Michael Gravina getting his first and Jordan Young getting the other two to take full control of the contest.
Things were getting worse for Diamond Creek with a number of players leaving the field injured, including Vale who seriously damaged his shoulder.
Frank Furlano then booted his first to leave the Bears up by 11 points at the last break with Diamond Creek needing to pull something special out of the bag to avoid a shock loss.
However, the Demons’ comeback never eventuated.
The final quarter was a tight struggle before Thomastown kicked the next two goals through James Mercuri and Jordan Young for his fourth of the match to seal the victory.
Diamond Creek got the next two goals but they were in consolation in the end as Daniel Boudolah put the icing on the cake for Thomastown and it was time to celebrate.
Diamond Creek did run out the game and managed the last goal of the match through Nathan Byatt but the day belonged to the underdog, Thomastown, who was crowned Division 2 under-19 premier with the final score standing at 10.8 (68) to 6.7 (43).
The best for Thomastown was Boudolah who deservingly claimed the best on ground award ahead of Jordan Young, while Bryce Adams and Lindsay Brophy-Hassett tried their best for Diamond Creek.
Final score: Diamond Creek 6.7 (43) def by Thomastown 10.8 (68)
