2020 Grand Final
The sun shone from the sky, the easterly blew from the err…. East and the ground was rock hard. Perfect day for fast fun footy. As the great Lou Richards use to say if you can’t get a kick today… you can’t get a kick. The crowd was brimming with expectations to see if the fast finishing Blues could upset the fancied and undefeated Eagles like they had done to come from fourth to their first Grannie since 2014.
At the bounce of the ball the Eagles centres fired up and they quickly delivered the ball to their Forward spearhead Mark Orr who spilled the ball but drew the free and from 50 goaled truly to kick start the Eagles. Out of the bounce again Robles and Coby combined to go long and find the big sticks. The Blues faithful started wondering if this was going to be a bloodbath. But the Grand final nerves settled and the Blues went into their work with Taylor, Jay and Bennie combining well around the ruck and the Blues started controlling the ball and playing it in their fifty. They couldn’t quite find the scoreboard and when Morel went on his infamous lurching run combined with Azza in the middle who picked out Orr - the back to forward transition was unstoppable and the Eagles were rewarded on the scoreboard.
¼ time Eagles 3.5 23 Blues 0.1 1
Sun is still shining with limited shade in the middle and the jubilant crowd has turned out to see a classic Grand Final. The Easterly is starting to deliver its advantage and the Blues have it.
However out of the middle Paddy gets a fastball out of the ruck to Morel who finds Luke De Roo on the wing, handball to Azza and before you know it Charlie has a shot on goal from 50 straight in front. GOAL. Wash, rinse repeat this time Orr 6 foot arms stretch over his smaller opponent to pluck the ball before they get near and Bang – goal.
Is this getting away from the Blues?
The Blues mids suddenly switch on and delivering the ball with ferocity into the forward line. The veteran Blues Buzz is rewarded with free kick from sloppy defence in quick succession and HELLO – Blues notch up 2 goals. At the next interchange Jay gets slammed to the concrete deck and goes off to clear the jay-birds flapping around his head. Meanwhile Eagles Paddy goes for his long run for the morning paper and finds Howie deep in the pocket. He gets a free kick but there is plenty of heat in this game and an altercation disrupts play. At the next bounce Jay bounces back and takes the ball by the scruff of the neck and lays a long flat pass through to Buzz who sidesteps his junior opposition and the snaps the goal. The Blue Army erupts - they’ve both scored 3 goals for the quarter and it feels like this game could be anyone’s.
Half Time Eagles 6.6 42 Blues 3.1 19
Throughout the season the Eagles have blown the opposition off the paddock in the first half and then coasted through the second but from the bounce the Blues are pumped for this and Fisher hits the sticks seconds later. Courty is playing his sweeping best and collecting plenty of ball from half back which he uses his prestigious boot to hit his forward line – Buzz takes a juggling mark on the angle but can’t quite slot it. Blues seem to have all the play early in the premiership quarter when Mad Louie attacks the ball and soccer kicks thru to Taylor who soccer’s to Jay and his smart switch of play away from traffic to Jimmy goes bang and the Blues are looking dangerous.
Two often mentioned players - Bennie and Robles had taken each other out of the game through tagging until Robles found space in the pocket and kicked a big one from the angle.
Eagles are still nervous so to increase the intensity in the middle they move Orr into his natural position of ruck against the rookie Taylor. Paddy then stops the rot with another run from the centre square using the easterly to slot a 60m goal. Paddy tries a repeat at next bounce but it dips and finds Azza who sprays a point. From the ensuing kick out Keegan takes a great mark but the still nervous Eagles give away a 50 on their half forward line for silly behaviour and then another 50 for umpire abuse and suddenly Keegan finds himself in front of goal 50m out. His kick falls short into a big pack and the ball is jostled around in a big confrontation as the siren sounds for three quarter time. Both teams aren’t going to die wondering that’s for sure because the wind has picked up to a four goal breeze and the Eagles aren’t comfortable.
Three Quarter time – Eagles 8.13 61 Blues 5.3 33
The influence of the spirited Taylor Cahill (Blues) last week has been nullified by the experienced Mark Orr whose height and deft touches to his mid-field put them into attacking positions which saw a goal to Charlie 10 seconds after the bounce. Buzz answered back with a downfield free kick for a high dangerous challenge. The big boot of Courty was missed as he sat out the quarter with a quad injury but the endurance and skills of Howie, Azza, Robles and Paddy shone through to the end.
Apart from the first quarter blow out which gave the Eagles a buffer to play with; the following three quarters were fairly even on the scoreboard and the inexperienced Blues really tested the more fancied Eagles to prove themselves worthy of a Grand Final flag. Which they did convincingly in the end and find themselves in the exclusive “UNDEFEATED CLUB.”
2020 Grand Final score Eagles 10.14 74 defeat Blues 7.4 46.
The return of the Prodigal Son Andrew Howison has marked a significant uptick in the performance of his old club that he started with way back when he was a grasshopper. His solid performance as sweeper cleaning up the mess and delivering clean ball to the forward line saw him voted as Best on Ground and awarded the 2020 Niki Dow Award. Howie remembered playing against Niki in 2009 so was very honoured to receive the gong. But as a true clubman, heaped the praise on his teammates for a job well done.
That wraps CAFL season 2020 until the 9 a side comp in January - see you then.
By Steve Langridge
Last Modified on 14/12/2020 07:26