Coming into the Grand Final against an undefeated East Malvern was an imposing challenge that we encouraged our U15 boys to embrace. Two weeks ago in the Semi Final, we got outplayed by them, and whilst the game was a tighter contest than what the scoreboard suggested, we knew we would have our work cut out to turn things around in the GF. Having gained incredible self-belief from our Preliminary Final against Beaumaris defined by our tackling, pressure and work rate we knew we had to roll that into the Grand Final and then some.
As all Grand Finals do, the first quarter got off to a frenetic pace with the ball movement mainly between the arcs in the first 5 minutes. East Malvern had the wind advantage and once they locked it in their forward line and were able to secure an unlucky free kick and score the first goal, the momentum remained with them. The quarter was predominately played in their forward half and we were giving far too much space to their prime movers. An important rundown tackle was laid to prevent another likely goal scoring opportunity that we were hoping was to become one of those defining moments that we like to reflect on. We had one or two chances to score against the run of play but in the end we were lucky that they weren’t further ahead at quarter time.
However there was no sense of panic at quarter time as we felt could work our way back into the game if we could better use the space and maintain possession rather than going up the line to contests, as well lift our accountability. After kicking the first goal of the second a quarter inside the first two minutes and another quickly thereafter, the game immediately fell back into balance. The backline worked strongly as unit and seemed to repel any of their forward entries, and through our rebound play and quick and lateral ball movement we were able to work the ball forward. Our tall forwards started to have a presence and we were able to create another two goals from deep in the goal square to importantly go into the half time break with our nose in front.
They often refer to the third quarter as the premiership quarter and there is no doubt that it has been our third quarters that have won or lost us games throughout the year, most recently in the Preliminary Final last week. Once again we were against the breeze but we continued to control possession and through strong leads and impacting marking contests were able to create scoring opportunities. Our ferocity and tackling seemed to go to another level, and when we notched our third goal for the quarter we were starting to sense something very special could happen today. A late goal to East Malvern stemmed the run of play momentarily before we finished the quarter with another goal and momentum coming into three-quarter time with a 3 goal lead.
The instruction was to maintain the pressure and work rate and to keep attacking as were never going to win the game by defending the lead. Sure enough East Malvern came out attacking and had a couple of scoring opportunities before kicking a goal to bring the margin back to delicate 10 points. The boys responded with the next centre clearance that lead to an inspirational goal and that seemed to immediately deflate the opposition. With some strong marking across the ground from our big men the game remained in our control, yet we had several missed scoring opportunities albeit notching a few “important points” to extend the lead past 3 kicks on goal. The coaching box remained tense before that magic moment that can happen in grand final where you kick the sealer, after which you can stand back with pure enjoyment as the remaining minutes count down on the clock.
The siren sounded with the Hampton Rovers 27 points ahead to end what has since been described by many as one of the most enjoyable displays of junior football ever seen.
HAMPTON ROVERS 0.1 4.4 8.6 10.11 (71)
EAST MALVERN 3.4 3.5 5.6 6.8 (44)
Goal Kickers: H. Willems 2, O. Roberts 2, C. Hodges 2, A. Folino 2, L. Harris , S. Williams
