by Kris Neil
The Northern Blues earned their second consecutive grand final berth and promotion into Division 2 on Saturday, defeating Emmaus St Leos by one-point in a thrilling preliminary final at Garvey Oval.
Emotions soared post-siren in the first verse second clash as a jubilant Blues celebrated while Alan Sutherland’s Animals were left to lament their straight sets September knockout.
Following the 13.17 (95) to 14.10 (94) victory the Blues will have an opportunity to secure the clubs second premiership in as many years, a feat Coach George Wakim described as integral to the development of the club.
“A win like that is massive,” Wakim said. “The club is continuing to build momentum and our culture is only getting stronger.”
“A winning environment helps attract quality players to the club and hold the group we’ve already got. It was one of the best wins I’ve been involved in.”
Co-Captain Dean Calcedo and Matthew Holmes were the standout Blues’ performers on the afternoon with Wakim praising their resilience over the last two months.
“They’re big game players,” Wakim said. “As the season develops and the games get more important they just keep getting better.”
The Animal’s got the jump on the Blues’ early in the contest, kicking the first four goals of the game courtesy of strong marking across half-forward from Ryan Harding and Nathan Baranello.
Some clever work at the stoppages from Northern’s Tony Vuwai and Matthew Holmes allowed the Blues to claw their way back into the match, steadying to control the tempo and take an eight-point lead into half-time.
Inspired play from Daniel Hill (three goals) saw momentum swing back in favour of the Animal’s after the major break, with Leo Glover providing penetrating run and carry from half-back.
The Blues then stunned the Animal’s by kicking two quick-fire goals to begin the final quarter, forcing Alan Sutherland to shift Harding from forward to defence and halt the run of play.
Pressure continued to mount on Emmaus as they failed to capitalise on a series of half-chances and overturn their one-point deficit.
Northern stubbornly held onto that slender lead in a heart-wrenching final five minutes and clenched victory, thanks largely to a stringent defensive unit lead by Reed Jepson and Daniel Wakim.
Jepson proved his team of the year credentials by holding Division 3 leading goal-kicker Christopher Beluszar to just two majors.
Jordan Hull and Olsen Clark assisted Jepson admirably in the backline, thwarting Emmaus’ scoring opportunities using a team-first mentality.
Emmaus’ captain Paul Baranello (three goals) did his utmost to will his side to win, nailing a left-footed last quarter goal from a stoppage to compliment an impressive highlight reel.
Calcedo provided his team with an influence equal to the opposition’s captain, dancing around his opponents with ease off half-back to continue his fantastic finals campaign.
Nic Robin and Tom Thorn were among the best players in the Animals penultimate clash for 2014.
The Blues will take on Richmond Central in the grand final after they defeated Aquinas by nine-points in their preliminary final.
The match will be played at Garvey Oval (Parade College) at 2:30pm on Saturday, the same venue as the preliminary final against Emmaus.
“I think Richmond is the best team we’ve played this year,” said Wakim. “It will be great to play them at full strength.”
NORTHERN BLUES 3.3 8.11 11.14 13.17 (95)
EMMAUS ST LEOS 4.2 8.3 13.6 14.10 (94)
GOALS
NORTHERN Vuwai 3, King 2, Cigagna 2, McRedmond 2, Marcon, Warwick, Phelan, Parkes
EMMAUS Hill 3, Baranello 3, Beluszar 2, McDougall 2, Harding 2, Virgo, Ellis
BEST
NORTHERN Lehmann, Wakim, McRedmond, Warwick, Sansonetti, De Andrade
EMMAUS Robin, Thorn, Baranello, Glover, Hill, Ballard
Last Modified on 16/09/2014 16:41