Chris Yeend
Riddell's Reserves finished off a magnificent day for the club with a gutsy seven-point win over minor premiers Diggers Rest to take home the premiership. The victory capped off a terrific day for the club with its third premiership win in as many games on the day that included the Under 18.5s football and C Grade netball premierships.
TITANIC BATTLE
On paper, this game was always going to be a titanic battle. Diggers Rest finished on top of the ladder as minor premiers with just one loss for the season and advanced through to the big dance with a great win over Romsey in the preliminary final. The Bombers are grand final specialists at this level and have been regular grand finalists in recent seasons. They suffered losses to Woodend/Hesket in 2008 and Macedon in 2010 and weren't prepared to let this one slip. They went in without Dean Besanko and Mick Allen but gained the services of Levi Moss, Rob Henry, Matt Baird and Andrew McCabe who all played senior football. The Burras welcomed Lindsay Black, Matt Haines and Glen Stewart into the team after recent senior experience.
GOALS ARE GOLDEN
Neither team could buy a goal in the opening term as they played solid end-to-end football. Steve Long and Glen Robertson were strong in the ruck for the Bombers while Dan Mackay, Jamie Elliott and Nathan Pinder were creative from wing and half-forward for Diggers Rest. The Bombers scored the opening goal at the 13-minute mark thanks to Troy Marinier, and teammate Andrew McCabe kicked truly eight minutes later in a real arm-wrestle. Rhys Pinder's goal in the shadows of quarter-time reduced the margin to three points. Time ran out for McCabe who burst into goal just as the siren sounded and couldn't get a kick away.
GAP INCREASES
The misfortune of the siren didn't phase McCabe as he made up for it with a goal in the opening minute to extend the lead to nine points just 30 seconds into the quarter. Chris Payne and Steve Fogarty looked dangerous for the Burras with Payne's goal at the 14-minute mark reducing the margin to just one point. Riddell's Rob Henry started to assert his dominance around the ball as his team increased the lead to seven points at half-time. Vandenberg and Moss kicked the opening goals for Riddell inside the first 12 minutes to extend the margin out to 21 points. Paul Crimmins tried to lift his team as the captain kicked the ball long to Payne and his fellow forwards to keep Diggers Rest in the game. The Bombers still held a 15-point lead at three-quarter-time despite Payne's goal from a free kick at the 22-minute mark.
BOMBERS CELEBRATE
Vandenberg kicked his third and Marinier kicked his second to extend the margin out to 27 points at the three-minute mark. When Crimmins, Payne and Jamie Elliott kicked goals for Diggers in the space of eight minutes, the margin was back to seven points at the 12-minute mark. It became an arm-wrestle as both teams traded behinds and Riddell held on to win by seven points. Diggers Rest's Michael Hildebrand won the Sankey Medal for best player on the ground.
Riddell 2.0, 5.2, 7.5, 9.8 (62) defeated Diggers Rest 1.3, 3.7, 4.8, 7.13 (55)
Goals: (Riddell) A McCabe 4, M Vandenberg 3, L Moss, T Marinier 1. (Diggers Rest) C Payne 3, T Gleeson, N Pinder, P Crimmins, J Elliott 1.
Best: (Riddell) R Heffernan, A McCabe, R Henry, S Golden, D Coventry, L Moss. (Diggers Rest) N Pinder, M Haines, J Elliott, M Hildebrand, S Fogarty, B Cunningham.
Last Modified on 25/09/2012 11:39