South Morang came from 20 points down in the second term to overrun Laurimar and claim the Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 premiership in front of a packed crowd at the Whittlesea Showgrounds.
After winning the Division 3 flag in 2011, South Morang found themselves back in the competition in 2014 before making the finals every year since and without being able to achieve the ultimate success in any of those season’s.
But on Saturday, it was a different story as although the Lions had to enter this decider the long way, losing the second semi-final to the Power and then overpowering Old Eltham Collegians in the preliminary final, it was finally South Morang’s turn to lift the cup aloft, triumphing 13.10 (88) to 11.7 (73).
James Hewson was deemed as the best on ground by the field umpires, with his work in the second half instrumental to South Morang’s charge towards the flag, also finishing the day with two goals, including a brilliant final term major.
Liam Jolly had a big task as first ruck in the absence of Nathan Stefanile and Aaron Lazaric and while he was unable to take control in the ruck duels, he did well enough to avoid his team being crunched in the clearances. His true value was his strong marking around the ground, and he finished off his work with a goal.
Trent Harvey is usually a defender but played further forward in the grand final and snared two goals, one of those being an incredible dribbling effort. Bailey Brown and Kain Hall excelled in the midfield, while Ben Power used the ball well off half back. Jake Potter kicked South Morang’s first major of the afternoon and finished off with three.
“The players worked hard, this day has been a long time coming, and they seized their opportunity today,” said South Morang coach Gary Hall in his post-game presentation speech.
Ethan Bateman was a stand-out for Laurimar with strong intercept marking being a feature of his game. Co-captain Luke Wilson got plenty of it and was often at the foot of the packs.
Jake Richards did well in defence and also spent time in the midfield while Josh Leather got his hands on the ball first in the ruck duels.
Nathan Andrews was a driving force behind his team’s early dominance but despite the Power’s contested work being excellent early, the Lions gradually got on top in that aspect of the game.
When Laurimar co-captain Mitch Thompson booted the first goal of the second term to push their early advantage out to 20-points, memories of South Morang’s nine behinds in a row two weeks earlier may have come flooding back for anxious Lion fans who were looking for someone to give them a spark.
That spark came through Samuel Hutton who after receiving a free kick on the boundary 30 metres out, split the middle with a banana kick. It began a run of eight unanswered goals for the Lions on either side of the main break.
Goals to Jake Potter, Alex Colaidis and Trent Harvey put South Morang in front at half time before they quickly surged to a 27-point lead late in the third quarter.
The Power then kicked two quick majors through Noah Mooney and Jacob Lawson to give Jimmy Atkins’ side hope at three quarter time, only trailing by 15 points.
Taking momentum into the final break, there was a buzz of excitement in the Laurimar huddle. Atkins urged his players to kick the ball deep into the forward fifty, stop the opposition from link up play and to focus on both effort and composure.
But their charge home looked more difficult to pull off as the final term commenced, after South Morang defender Ben Muscat grabbed a handball receive and booted a booming 50 metre goal to send the Lions fans into raptures.
The middle portion of the fourth quarter was a real grind with neither team being able to capitalise with this of course suiting the Lions. The win was finally sealed by teenager Adrian Alessandrino who received a free kick and then two 50 metre penalties, ensuring his shot on goal from point blank range would sail true.
Credit should be given to the Power for fighting the game right out to the end despite the contest being out of reach. Jacson Cecil booted two late goals to take his tally to four for the day and ultimately finished with 90 for the season.
