South Morang won the 2011 Division Three Premiership and earned promotion into Division Two next year with a 23-point win over Parkside in Saturday’s Grand Final.
The Lions were forced to come from 43 points behind to record the 15.12.102 to 11.13.79 victory at Epping Recreation Reserve.
Ruckman Matt Manning was adjudged best on ground after gallantly rucking for the entire final three quarters, with his performance instrumental in swinging the game back in South Morang’s favour.
A red-hot favourite heading into the clash, South Morang’s hopes of Premiership glory were very nearly extinguished in the opening quarter.
The game started in the worst possible manner for the Lions with star half back Travis Stevens yellow-carded for an incident against Andy Bennett before the first ball was even bounce.
Parkside was unstoppable in the opening 15 minutes of the match and piled on seven unanswered goals, as Brad Hockey, Dallas King and Andy Bennett got the underdog off to a flying start.
The Devils could do no wrong as they continually won the ball from the middle of the ground and kicked goals with apparent ease.
Vito Ferraro got the Lions on the board with a left foot snap before Troy Jinnette jagged back another, but it didn’t dint Parkside’s confidence as the Devils kicked another through David Egan to make it a 38-point game once again.
Late goals to Matt Manning and Shane Whitnall cut the margin to 27 points at the first break as the shell-shocked Lions looked to compose themselves and work their way back into the contest.
After a first quarter which produced 12 goals, the second was a hard-fought slugfest as South Morang strengthened its defence and Parkside rallied hard to keep hold of its healthy lead.
The Lions were able to kick two of the three goals of the term, through Whitnall and the hard-working Luke Manning, as the margin was reduced to 21 at the main break.
The intensity lifted a notch in the third term, as both teams played with the ferocity and determination expected from grand finalists.
Despite a healthy breeze blowing Parkside’s way, South Morang was able to kick three goals to one for the quarter as Jason Ward, Jinnette and Ferraro started to get their hands on the football, while skipper Daniel Heatley was superb across half back.
With only 10 points separating the teams at the final change, the stage was set for an epic last quarter and it was South Morang who rose to the challenge.
The Lions slammed on four goals in the opening seven minutes of the quarter to take an eight-point advantage as the strong South Morang supporter base went into raptures.
Whitnall kicked two of those, the first a 40m set shot which put the Lions in the lead, while the second came only seconds later from a soccer-style volley after the football spilled loose from a marking contest.
With its lead eroded and the momentum heavily in South Morang’s favour, Parkside found it hard to fight back as the entire side looked to be out of run and flat footed.
Stevens then executed a nicely weighted handpass to Luke Manning for the easiest of goals to push the margin to 15, before the Lions kicked four consecutive behinds as they looked for the decisive blow.
The sealer came from Whitnall as he marked strongly in the goal square 20 minutes into the quarter and drilled his third of the term, before Stevens put the icing on already sweet cake with an intercepted mark and goal from 30m.
From there it was party time as South Morang claimed it first senior Premiership, a just reward for a dominant season which yielded 16 wins from 18 matches.
Final score: South Morang 15.12.102 def Parkside 11.13.79
Last Modified on 14/09/2011 14:10