It was a very warm Spring's day that faced the Saints and the Roos for the 2011 Essential Energy TAFL Grand Final at Number One Oval in Tamworth. The two combatants came together for the 4th time in 5 years in the big one and this time round, the Roos took home the cup and sqaured the ledger at 2 wins a piece over that period.
The Saints enterd the game without the injured Fraser Hughes and the unavailable Stewart Walker and Leigh Turner from last week's match but were still confident of putting up a good show against the raging hot favourites. The Saints badly needed a good start, but got the exact opposite, being beaten to the ball early and finding themselves 3 goals down in just the first 5 minutes. It took another 10 minutes to get on the baord through a good goal to Gary Hadland, and when he snapped a beauty of his left followed by a Mike Gould bomb from 50, the Saints were back in the contest. The quarter time margin was 9 points in favour of the Roos, but it could have been much worse for the Saints.
Kicking with the aid of the breeze in the second, the Saints started brightly and kicked the first of the quarter through Jono Elphick. However some crucial missed opporutunities hurt the Saints and they couldn't capitalise on their control of possession, managing the equal the scores but never get their noses in front. The Roos then responded with a flurry of goals and went close to putting the Saints away before a late Gould goal brought the margin back to 20 points at the half. Sadly for the Saints, they went into the sheds with the exact same amount of scoring shots as the Roos yet found themselves facing a big deficit.
The mood in the Saints shed at halftime was still upbeat despite the scoreline, and the message was all about staying in touch. However it wasn't to be, as the Roos piled on 6 goals in the quarter to the Saints 2, totally dominating the Saints around the ground. The Roos midfield was running rampant and no amount of work around the stoppages was slowing down the onslaught. A late goal for the Saints in the quarter brought the margin back to 50 points at the last change with the match well and truly over and the Saints staring at a big loss.
Heading into the last quarter of footy for 2011, the Saints showed some real fight. They kicked the first 3 goals of the last within the first 10 minutes and managed to put some respectability to the scoreline, however late goals to the Roos put to bed any hopes of an unlikely comeback. The final margin stood at 38 points, leaving the Saints to rue the third quarter onslaught from the boys from Tamworth.
Jono Elphick was close to being best on ground for both teams and rounded out an impressive finals series with a fine display. Gould was outstanding up forward, while Joe Kimmince almost dragged the Saints back into the match when he went into the ruck. Peter Dunlop had another strong game in the middle whilst Russell Brien capped off a great first year with a solid effort.
The Saints now look forward to Friday night's Presentation Night down at the Royal Hotel from 6.30pm. TIckets can be purchased on the night and are $20 per couple/family.
Last Modified on 19/09/2011 09:45