By Chris Lees
Daily Mercury.com.au
Eastern Swans 'thought they'd blown it'
It came down to one moment, a falcon, an Eastern Swans player smothering the ball with his head.
That one act may well have been the reason the Eastern Swans won the Allied Pickfords Cup Grand Final by five points against Mackay City Hawks.
At half time, it looked as if the Swans would run out comfortable winners, but an experienced Hawks team, led by the league's best player and best on ground, Desmond Hayes, were not done with.
They closed the gap in the third quarter and had all the momentum in the last, and looked like they were going to pinch a remarkable victory.
However the Swans scored two crucial goals which was enough to give them the victory they deserved in front of a 4000-strong crowd at Harrup Park on Saturday.
The win means the Swans finished the season undefeated.
Swans coach Brad McLaren said he thought his team had lost the game in that last term.
"It was unbelievable, we thought we'd blown it, when they (Hawks) started to get a run," he said.
"They're a good football side, we knew it was going to happen... but to the boys' credit they fought back, got some possession of the football and scored again."
McLaren said the premiership meant a lot to the club.
"It's been a massive year to keep winning, but off the field it's been terrible," he said.
"I think we've had five people unfortunately pass away in the last 12 months, and a few of those were young fellas as well.
"We made a commitment to each other, to I guess try and get the job done, for everyone else involved, not just us."
McLaren said youngster Nicholas Kempe had been a bit quiet during the game but his last quarter was "outstanding".
"I don't think we had any real standouts across the board, everyone had a job to do, and when it was time to go they went," he said.
Full time
Allied Pickfords Cup
Eastern Swans, 13.8, 86 defeated Mackay City Hawks, 12.9, 81
Last Modified on 19/10/2015 11:43