Grand Final
CDHBU Coleambally
6.4 1.2
10.5 6.2
17.11 6.4
21.17.143 9.8.62
Goals Doug Lavis 8, Glenn Edwards 6, Leigh.Bedford 3, Mark House 2, Scott Francis, Paul Lavis.
Best Murray Longmire, Doug Lavis, Jarrod Hanrahan, Glenn Edwards, Shayne Mathews, Jeremy Sandral.
Selected Team
B: Ian Bock, Darren Killmister, Steve Talbot
HB: Shane Norman, Clinton Pitchers, Brad Talbot
C: Murray Longmire, Jarrod Hanrahan, Shayne Mathews
HF: Mark House, Paul Lavis, Scott Francis
F: Glenn Edwards, Doug Lavis. Leigh Bedford
R: Xavier Mardling, Jeremy Sandral, Charlie Cay
IC: Chris Baksh, Nathan Cooper, Damian Talbot
By BRENDAN RHODES
IT MIGHT have taken two years, but CDHBU finally delivered on its undoubted promise when it pounded Coleambally by 81 points in one of the most emphatic Coreen and District league grand final results seen for many years at Rennie on Saturday.
The Saints charged out of the blocks with six goals to one in a stunning first term that left Coleambally with no answer to their brilliance, eventually romping to a 21.17 143 to 9.8 62 victory in front of about 5,000 people.
In doing so, CDHBU also completed a 142-point turnaround in just five quarters after the Blues had got out to a 61-point advantage at three quarter time in the second semi final and gained the best possible revenge for the Blues' upset 12-point victory on the same day and ground last year.
The last quarter at Jerilderie that day, when the Saints finally clicked into gear with four unanswered goals to cut the final margin to 33 points - signaling a turnaround in momentum which carried through a big preliminary final win over Rennie and into the grand final.
Perhaps the smartest move made by Saints' coach Jarrod Hanrahan involved his champion teammate Murray Longmire.
The Blues lined up their own gun Shane Pound on a wing and expected Longmire to go head to head with him, but Saint ran to the opposite wing and lined up on first year rookie Blue Tom Groves.
Groves tried hard and was a good player for his team, but he was no match for Longmire, who continually provided the link-up through the midfield to be clearly best man on the ground.
And that's no mean feat when you have three key forwards on fire, as CDHBU did.
Back to back century goalkicker Doug Lavis was unstoppable, kicking four goals in the first quarter and going on to finish with 8.3 to be named runner up to Longmire for best on ground, while Glenn Edwards was similarly effective in booting six goals straight and Leigh Bedford was always dangerous, despite finishing with a wayward 3.5.
Coleambally was never going to match that, especially with its own key forwards in Blake Kelly, Dean Pound and Jackson Painting being completely blanketed by Darren Killmister, Clinton Pitchers and Shane Norman respectively.
Kelly, who went into the match with 85 goals for the season, was rarely sighted, although he did bob up to kick his only two goals within two minutes late in the second quarter to cut the margin from 39 points to 27 at half time.
Painting was similarly ineffective, although he could have done better with his opportunities than 1.4, while Pound struggled to make any sort of impact at centre half forward, his only goal coming when Pitchers was off the ground receiving treatment for a knee injury.
Shane Pound, who was best on ground last year, was another to be taken out of the contest, with Brad Talbot following him everywhere and keeping him to no more than a dozen touches and one goal.
The six goal to one opening blast gave the Saints a 29-point advantage at the first break and they were never likely to let it slip, although there were some sideways glances from supporters when Kelly kicked those two late goals to produce that 27-point margin at half time.
CDHBU had led by 20 points at the same stage of last year's decider and added the opening goal to lead by 26 shortly after before being overrun, but the mood in the rooms was one of calm, and the air of unfinished business resonated strongly.
They call the third quarter the premiership quarter and the Saints won the club's first ever premiership (although Coreen, Daysdale and Hopefield-Buraja won 30 between them in their previous lives).
With Edwards cutting loose to kick three goals for the term (he would finish with five in the second half) and Mark House shrugging off his dodgy hamstring to add two more, CDHBU piled on 7.6 and held the Blues to just two behinds - both deep into time-on - to blow the margin out to 73 points at the final change.
It was party time from there with the lead getting out to as much as 89 before the Blues rallied with three late goals to save themselves the humiliation of a 100-point thrashing.
Shayne Mathews and Jeremy Sandral were others to star in a fluent midfield, while Charlie Cay did plenty of bullocking work and Steve Talbot provided some brilliant drive out of defence.
Xavier Mardling and Damian Talbot lodged an absorbing battle with Scott Fairweather and Jay Pound in the ruck, with the only reason the Blues' duo featured highly in their best being the lack of winners they had on the day.
Andy McGown was an impressive performer for Coleambally with his raking passes hitting the target more often than not and John Bull had his moments, while Glenn Eddie had an exceptional first half before being overwhelmed by his near namesake Edwards.
It was a fitting way for Daysdale and Saints stalwart Ian Bock to finish his senior career, capping off more than 220 senior matches, the 1994 premiership with Daysdale and the Archie Dennis Medal in the same year with a richly deserved second premiership medal.
Last Modified on 29/07/2011 12:45