GROOTE Eylandt Football League's inaugural season is winding up after 10 home and away rounds in what has been dubbed by many as 'one of the best things to things to happen to the Eylandt'.
Coming into the cut-throat finals, the Umbakumba Roos dropped out in fifth position, paving the way for the top four teams, Alyangula Swans, Umbakumba Lions, Angurugu Tigers and the Angurugu Crocs, to play off in a spot for the Grand Final.
The semi-finals, played at Alyangula Town Oval last Saturday, provided some of the closest football all year.
The first match of the evening had the reigning pre-season cup premiers, Angurugu Tigers, take on the in-form Umbakumba Lions, in a display of skill, pace and goal-for-goal accuracy.
Four quarters of intense football highlighted equal determination and commitment at the ball, reinforcing that both teams wanted the spot to play in the grand final.
The last five minutes of the final term had the Tigers a goal in front, with victory looking theirs for the promising Angurugu team. In the dying seconds of the game, however, the Lions dug deep and managed to seal the winning goal with just five seconds remaining, thus securing a spot in Sunday's grand final.
Final score: Umbakumba Lions 9.16 (70) defeated Angurugu Tigers 10.9 (69).
Swans, Crocs in a thriller THE second semi-final between the Alyangula Swans and the Angurugu Crocs had the Swans coming in as clear favourites. Fully aware they needed to lift a gear if they were to overcome the strong Alyangula side, the Crocs had been training hard leading up to the game by working on a game strategy to match the Swans on their small home ground.
As expected, the Swans kicked a bag of opening goals in the first half, leading the Crocs during most of the play. With finals fever in the air, the Crocs were determined not to throw all hope of playing in a premiership away and found themselves moving the ball around a lot better in the second half, closing the gap to within three goals coming into the final quarter.
The second half of the game had the Swans dropping away, which wasn’t helped by losing four key midfield players due to injury. The Angurugu side capitalised on the absence of good Swans players and crept to within nine points of victory with only eight minutes left on the clock. Ninety per cent of play was dictated by the Crocs in the final moments of the last quarter and they kicked a goal to put them within three points of victory. Unfortunately for the Crocs, the final siren shut down any hopes of kicking the sealing goal needed to see the Angurugu side progress through to the grand final.
Credit to the Swans for holding off the onslaught of Crocs players who were looking like snatching victory should they have had an extra minute left on the clock.
Final score: Alyangula Swans 11.11 (77) defeated Angurugu Crocs 11.8 (74).
Groote Eylandt's Football League inaugural Grand Final will be played this weekend at the Alyangula Town Oval. The Alyangula Swans will take on the Umbakumba Lions on Sunday, September 20, at 3pm in what should be an exciting spectacle of community football for all to enjoy.
ROBERT CLEMENTS
AFLNT REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
GROOTE EYLANDT
AFLNT.com.au
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Last Modified on 06/10/2009 11:27