CLICK HERE FOR OUR OUTSTANDING PICTURE GALLERY FROM THE BIG GAME.ROMSEY held its nerve in the desperate final stages of the Riddell District Football League grand final to prevail by two points against Sunbury Kangaroos on Sunday.
Leading from start to finish, the Redbacks held true to their season-long form by winning one more time, 12.10 (82) to the Kangaroos 11.14 (80).
But the siren could not have been timed any better for the Redbacks, with the Kangaroos making its most concerted charge of the day in the dying moments of the 26-minute final term.
The siren sounded with the ball on Romsey’s half-forward line in dispute, just seconds after the two big chances Sunbury Kangaroos had to take the lead, and what almost certainly would have been the premiership too.
The first was a shout for a free kick for Ryan Hatty 55m out from goal on the boundary in a marking contest, not paid and a boundary throw-in called for instead.
The second was a kick in midfield for Kangaroos ruckman Leigh Fishenden, whose tumbling ball to the top of the 50m arc was marked by a loose Brad Mitchell.
The Romsey midfielder milked some seconds off the clock, then cleared the ball from defence for the last time in the game.
The Redbacks’ final quarter was poles apart from the blazing style that yielded 11 last-quarter goals in the preliminary final the previous week against Riddell.
This was a team clinging on to the cup.
BLOW-BY-BLOW
The initial exchanges were low scoring and scrappy, with Romsey edging to a nine-point quarter time lead thanks to some wasteful Sunbury attacking.
The second quarter was more desperate and even less accurate, with nine behinds exchanged by the teams before Mitchell Streiff kicked the only goal of the quarter in time-on to draw the Kangaroos within two points at the long break.
Scoring increased in the third term, with Sunbury squandering what could have been a defining moment and Romsey capitalising.
Sunbury’s Jake Powell ran down Ash McNaughton brilliantly as the latter ran in to goal in the fourth minute, but the momentum was gifted straight back to Romsey with a turn-over form the resulting kick. Romsey’s Brad Mitchell marked the ball and handed off to Dean Smith-Whiting who goaled and opened a 14-point lead.
Sunbury toiled for two goals, drawing to within a point, only for Ben Talbot on the run, Smith-Whiting after a 50m penalty and a McNaughton pot-shot from 45m to open a 19-point Romsey lead in the space of six minutes.
Chris Meacham would peg the margin back to 14 points in the 26th minute, only for Romsey spearhead Mathew Davidson to mark strongly and goal to set up a match-high 21 point gap at the last change.
The last quarter would start with a big momentum shift in the Kangaroos’ favour. Davidson and McNaughton conspired to spoil each other on half forward for what would have been an uncontested mark, with Sunbury sweeping to the other end for Meacham to goal from 40m out.
Meacham would step up with a set shot from a tight angle six minutes in, before Jamie Cuffe made the margin two points in the ninth minute after goaling from a ruck free kick.
Meacham had two bites at a mark in the 12th minute for a set shot within range, but couldn’t hold the ball and Romsey’s defence cleared.
A skilful snap from 30m by Nathan Davidson restored Romsey’s eight-point lead, before an audacious soccer-style volley by Ben Talbot made the margin 15 points with 18 minutes gone.
Streiff roosted a 50m goal in the 21st minute to get Sunbury back within eight, while John Baker found his radar to boot a second goal of the day, (two goals, five behinds for the afternoon) a 50m set shot with about four minutes to go.
But there would be no more score put on the board thereafter as Romsey held on for victory.
RDFL SENIOR GRAND FINAL
Sunbury Kangaroos 11.14 (80) lt Romsey 12.10 (82)
Sunbury Kangaroos — Goals: C. Meacham 3, M. Streiff, J. Cuffe 2, R. Hatty , J. Baker , L. Fishenden 1
Best: Not named
Romsey — Goals: M. Davidson 5, B. Talbot, D. Smith-Whiting 2, A. McNaughton, N. Davidson, B. Mitchell 1
Best Players: B. Henderson, S. Austin, B. Mitchell, L. Erwin, A. McNaughton, M. Davidson
FROM THE ROMSEY ROOMS
Blake Henderson (Doug McIntyre medallist)
‘‘I played my part but so did the other 20 blokes in our team. My plans were to go out there and play my own game, try to stop their big blokes basically. I set out to do that and play my own game. I feel as though they (the players) deserve it, I haven’t seen a team put in as much as Romsey have in my entire career.’’
Ash McNaughton
‘‘We might have been out of puff and the skills were down a bit but we came through with the goods. If they had hit the front it might have been all over for us. To our credit we stuck through it.’’
Stephen Burlak - Captain
‘‘It means everything, we’ve put in a huge year on and off the field. We’ll probably celebrate for days on end now.
‘‘I’m absolutely proud, it’s a great bunch of blokes. We’re a big family here and that’s it, just a big family.
‘‘I wasn’t too sure if I’d come up (fit to play) at all. It was just two days ago I thought I could get into the game. But the medical staff were right, I’ve got the ultimate faith in them. My hamstring muscle was fine, it was just the sciatic nerve.’’
Mathew Davidson
‘‘It’s my first year here and I’ve never fitted in any better. It’s not just the team, but the number of supporters. The blokes sweeping the floor, cleaning up and doing things around the club.
‘‘It’s one of the main reasons we got up in the end. Players want to strive not just for themselves but the guys behind the scenes.
‘‘The next week’s going to be hectic. We’re going to enjoy ourselves and it’s well deserved.’’
Mark Pederson — coach
‘‘It’s very hard to stop a run-on and Sunbury definitely got that run on, but the boys just kept diving in on the ball.
‘‘Shannon Green at the bottom of every pack, Blake Henderson, Dave Henderson and Jimmy Carroll down back, and Matt Davidson capped it off.
‘‘I said on Thursday night, if Blake Henderson gets best on ground we’d win the game.
‘‘Blake was up against some big boys today, tall opponents. What he doesn’t do in the air, he makes up for at ground level. He never stops running and I asked him to run off his opponent all day.
‘‘(Mathew) Davidson was no less than I would have expected. I think he’s a freakish player. He’s great to coach, exciting, the crowd love him and he’s kicked (more than 100) goals this year so you can’t ask for much more from a full forward.’’
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