The Camden Cats have defeated the Manly-Warringah Giants by one point 9.8 (62) to 9.7 (61) in their qualifying final of the AFL Sydney division two competition at the Blacktown International Sportspark on Sunday.
The minor premiership winning Camden side will now contest the AFL Sydney division two grand final at the same venue next Saturday afternoon at 4.00pm.
“The players are ecstatic about making the grand final,” said Camden Cats President Joshua Leys after the nail biting one point victory.
“Reaching the grand final is a great achievement for our club, but our goal this year has always been to win a premiership.”
“Next Saturday we will be giving it our all to win that ultimate prize,” he said.
Camden is striving to win a historic first premiership in the elite AFL Sydney competition, having joined the competition from the south coast league in 2008.
A large and boisterous contingent of Camden Cats’ fans made the trip to Blacktown on Sunday, but it was Manly-Warringah who started the game best.
They got the jump on the Cats in the first quarter, making the most of every one of their scoring opportunities to lead by 17 points at the first break.
In the second quarter, Manly-Warringah kicked the first two goals to have the Cats staring down a five goal deficit, the biggest margin for the game.
Looking for a spark in the middle, the Cats found it in half-back Brenton Sommerville who was shifted into the ruck. The move proved to be a masterstroke with Camden immediately starting to win the centre clearances.
The Cats went on to kick four goals to one in the second quarter to reduce the margin to five points at half time.
Camden began the third quarter strongly, with midfielder Tom Vella leading the way. His hard tackling and attack on the ball was sublime, keeping the Cats in touch with a slim 9 point margin separating the two teams at the final change.
The final quarter was hard, tough and action packed with both teams leaving nothing in the tank in pursuit of a grand final berth.
Ben Wharton, Mark Maher and Mitch Hogan were again Camden’s best around the ground, continuing their recent run of good form, whilst speedster Mitch Broadstock had one of his best games for the year.
But it was full forward Matthew Withers that was the difference in the last term.
His two late goals proved the difference between the two teams, with the Cats hitting the front for the first time with less than two minutes remaining.
A kick after the siren from Manly-Warringah player Stephen Kelly failed to trouble the scorers when his kick sailed over the boundary on the full, a one point victory to the Cats the final result.
“Manly definitely made us work hard for the win today,” said Camden Captain Josiah Ayling.
“I am proud of the boys. They stuck it out all day and even when the chips were down they kept their heads up high and kept working hard for each other.”
“This week we will be a big one on the training track as we look to sharpen our skills and be ready to play our best football next Saturday,” he said.
Last Modified on 17/01/2016 21:14