2005 Grand Final Match Report
Grand Final day was the most perfect day for footy and I suppose as the club had not won one for 17 years there was a fair bit of nervousness and expectation especially as Sth had given us a nice old touch up in the 2nd semi final. The side did respond well in the Preliminary final so we were confident that we could get the job done.
We had a full list to choose from as normally happens it’s not possible to fit everyone in.
The side started terrifically well when we scored 4 quick goals and maybe there and then the game could have been over however the last 10 minutes of the Qrt saw Sth kick 4 unanswered goals and only trail by 5 points. Qrt time had us down to 1 on the bench with Russ off with a hammy and Ritchie suffering from a cracked bone in the foot.
Qrt Olinda Fc 6.2.38 Sth Belgrave 5.3.33
The 2nd Qrt saw the side start well with 3 early goals before Sth scored again then finished off with 2 late goals. We had learnt from our mistakes of the 1st Qrt with Steve Longham sending Ben Osborne to play loose across half back. Skinner was playing a great game on Bakens and George and Brad were successful dragging Apps away from his favorite CHB position.
Halftime Olinda Fc 10.5.65 Sth Belgrave 6.3.39
In the third we scored an early goal before Sth managed to kick 2 unanswered goals. Then Mick Scott copped a nasty knock to the face and had to leave the ground and in the next few minutes both sides had a players sent off. Not to long after that, Tim Scott hobbled to the bench with what turned out later to be a torn medial ligament. From that moment on the side played some of the best team Football for the year. We slammed on 4 goals nearing the end of the Qrt to take what turned out to be a match winning lead.
3 Qrt Time15.11.101 Sth Belgrave 8.3.57
The 4th Qrt I suppose was just a matter of treading water and at different stages we had 2 of our injured boys playing out of the square. As the term progressed you did get a chance to look around the ground and it was great to see all our supporters so excited and looking forward to siren ringing. We just won the last Qrt kicking 3.6 to 3.2 but the damage had been done in that 3rd term and the mighty bloods were able to start celebrating their 9th Premiership as a combined Club.
Full Time 18.17.125 Sth Belgrave 11.5.71.
During the season Steve had preached to the guys that to win games of footy you had to make sacrifices. The boys that represented the club on the day were all magnificent. We copped some bad injuries during the game and in the last term both Tim and Ritchie spent lengthy periods in the square as we had simply run out of players. Lucas playing his 2nd game for the season did a brilliant job at Fullback and Skinner also played well in his role. Matt Dunn who was moved in the Preliminary to the Ruck started the side off brilliantly and his efforts at the first bounce set the tone for the day. We also saw the emergence of some younger players that season which formed the backbone of the bloods mighty effort in 2009 including Nick Broomhall who was selected as the best player on the ground Scott Tregoning who would later captain the side to a premiership Garratt McDonald, James Reid who were all now second year players and Dave Noorda who was an Emergency for the game.
