An outstanding Grand Final display saw Banyule 2 claim the 2024 Marbuilt Division 3 Under 19.5’s premiership, defeating top of the ladder Macleod by 56 points in a dominant decider at Lalor Reserve.
The Bears were relentless from the opening siren, keeping the Roos scoreless in the opening term while piling on seven straight majors and eight opening half goals on their way to the 16.9 (105) to 7.7 (49) triumph.
It’s the club’s second Under 19.5’s premiership after they achieved the feat in Division 2 in 2022, with this year being the first time the club had two standalone Under 19.5’s sides.
The best on ground medallion went to Kristian Robinson, who was a critical player in his side’s surge throughout the early stages of the game. He also finished in his side’s best for the third time in this side in 2024, all three times coming in this year’s finals series.
Daniel Galea was close behind Robinson as the most influential player on the ground and starred with four majors. He was clinical in front of goal, with his back-to-back goals in the third term helping to assure his side of premiership success.
The top of the ladder Roos came into this match off a nine-game win streak, and had defeated Banyule twice in that run, but were caught chasing from the start of the contest and were kept to their second lowest score of the season.
Lachlan Barrett finished as his side’s best while Zac Howell booted three of his team’s seven majors, all in the last term, to make it an 80-goal season for the competition’s leading forward.
After a slow start to the game as both sides settled into the terrific conditions that Lalor Reserve presented, it was Banyule’s pressure on the ball carrier that helped them gain the upperhand.
They would boot five unanswered goals in the opening term, all coming in a scintillating nine-minute span. The highlight would be a remarkable goal from Damian Giosserano who nailed a running shot on the boundary at the 13-minute mark, which would be one of his three majors for the Grand Final.
The Bears had set the tone and put the pressure on Macleod to respond as the margin sat at 31 points at quarter time.
But quarter time did nothing but refresh Banyule and would continue to surge hard at the start of the second term with two goals in two minutes to balloon the lead out to 43 points.
After 26 minutes without a goal, the Roos finally found the big sticks to get on the board, before sides exchanged majors late to see Banyule take a comfortable 32-point advantage into the main break.
A more promising start to the second half saw Mitchell Henderson kick a much-needed goal for the Roos, reducing the margin to 26 points at the five-minute mark.
But that’s as close as the minor premiers would get for the remainder of the game, as led by Daniel Galea with a pair of goals, Banyule would pile on four more majors in a 13-minute span.
It set the margin at 52 points at the final change and despite the Roos producing a three-goal final term, the Bears still won the last quarter with another four majors, to solidify a magnificent Grand Final win.
