Diamond Creek romped away after half time to record a big win in the Division 2 reserves Grand Final at Preston City Oval.
The side has now won back to back flags and has claimed three of the past five premierships in the competition.
Overall, Diamond Creek was smarter with its ball use and everyone played their role.
The game was free-flowing, with numerous changes of momentum in the first half. But, in the third term, the Creekers clearly won the clearances. This helped them kick eight goals to three and wrest total control of the match.
The fracas on the siren at the last change belied the score line, with the Creekers 43 points in front.
Both team had bench trouble due to injuries and a series of yellow cards. Whittlesea’s Sean McAuliffe received a second yellow during the final term after an accidental, but crude, head-high tackle.
The Eagles had a further three players off the field at times due to yellow card issues. To add to their troubles, Wayne Draper went off mid-game with a hamstring injury.
The Creekers also lost two players to yellow card infringements. They lost Christopher McCauley early in the game with a rib injury and Gerard O’Connor in the third with a strained hamstring.
Luke Campitelli had a purple patch in the third stanza when he booted five of his six goals. Whether on a set shot or a snap, he couldn’t seem to miss. But he ended the game on crutches after injuring an ankle early in the last term.
“We were all disappointed with our efforts,” lamented Whittlesea coach Gary Kallinikos. Indeed, his team uncharacteristically lacked discipline at times.
Diamond Creek was soundly beaten by the Eagles in the second semi final two weeks earlier, but the Creekers were able supplement their Grand Final team with a few players who were playing seniors on that weekend.
Despite the Creekers being the favourites, Kallinikos thought that his team had the fire power to win. He assigned tasks to various players to keep a tight check on Daniel Padget, Andrew Campbell and Michael McKenzie – with mixed success at best.
McKenzie, in particular, was very damaging in patches. Not only did his run create scoring opportunities for his forwards, but he also kicked three goals himself.
For the Eagles, Tom Bonson was good early with two first half goals. Steve Dorsett was a good forward target, but kicked numerous behinds.
Jordan Ormerod and Ben Tsakanakis both showed skills in delivering the ball to team mates with accurate kicking.
Diamond Creek coach Brian ‘Bud’ Harman was a very proud and satisfied coach after the contest. “It was a well deserved win, especially to claim back to back flags,” he beamed.
Shane Whitmore won the medal for the best player, despite his opponent Glenn Poorter kicking four majors. But Whitmore gave his team a huge amount of run out of defence.
Brenton Hoppe roamed far and wide and used the ball well. He joined the party by nailing a goal of his own late in the game.
The Creekers’ celebrations began early with the first five goals of the final term in 12 minutes.
From then on, the Eagles fought out the game better and the Diamond Creek players missed a few chances. But the flag was already in the bag.
Final score: Whittlesea 10.14 (74) def by Diamond Creek 21.12 (138)
