The 2011 NFL Division Three Reserves Premiership now belongs to Panton Hill. The Panton Hill Football Club won its first senior club Premiership in 56 years on Saturday.
The weather was forecast to be terrible at Epping but it turned out to be one of the brightest days for many years in the clubs history. The rain stayed away which provided great conditions for football. The wind was strong but didn’t provide any advantage to either side. In the first quarter the Redbacks got off to the best possible start after a snap out of the pack landed in the hands of Frank Trianta who goaled within minutes of the opening siren. From then on the next two quarters were even with the lead changing constantly. Reservoir was throwing everything at our boys. They weren’t allowing The Hills any space which caused substantial pressure on the Panon Hill players preventing them from getting their running game going.
Panton Hill had only lost two games all year. It was put to the players that they didn’t deserve to lose this game and if they wanted to win they needed to lift the intensity at the ball and break open into space to give David Walton, Matthew Layt, Andrew Miller and rest of the running brigade a chance to kick the ball long into attack.
Reservoir held a slender two point lead at the long break so it was asked of the players to get tougher at ground level and make sure they moved the ball forward quickly. When the third quarter started again it was goal for goal but it was two goals to John Garrard and a goal each to Jayson Burleigh and Kyle Coffey. After Reservoir was able snap a quick goal from a boundary throw in close to the end of the quarter it looked like this one was going to go down to the wire. At the last change Panton Hill lead by five points.
Nathan Grimshaw controlled the backline superbly all game and was well supported by Lucas Brass who bounced back after a heavy knock in 2nd quarter to play a vital part on Reservoirs small forwards.
The coach asked all players to give this one more shot and with fresh legs on the bench and the Panton Hill midfield rotations working well the players still had more to give. Chris Sansom had been on top all day in the ruck and Brendon Long and Dominic Bee were starting to get first use of the ball in the midfield. Dylan Collins was a great lead up target off half forward but it was when Daniel Keen got the upper hand in the last quarter at CHF that showed the big men weren’t getting any smaller. It was then that the game broke open. At the 20 minute mark of the last quarter when John Garrard kicked his fifth goal and shortly after Daniel Keen took a strong one handed mark the crowd erupted and it was evident that the party was about to start up at the Hill.
The reserves side had been a strong outfit all year with no less than 38 players available for selection for the Grand Final and with everyone playing an even contribution throughout the year it was great to see all the players who missed out on a grand final spot providing the much needed support for thier team mates from the sidelines. It was fitting that the boys were able to come off the ground all together with the Premiership cup and flag. Thankyou to the big Panton Hill crowd that came and witnessed this result… It didn’t go unrecognised by any of the players just how much support the players had.
Last Modified on 04/10/2012 13:07