Manor Lakes masterminded a premiership upset at Piranha Park on Sunday, repeating their second semi-final win against Melton Centrals with another victory in the North-West Division Grand Final.
Melton Centrals had previously been unbeaten throughout the home-and-away season, but were forced to go the long way around to the Grand Final after losing to Manor Lakes by a solitary point just two weeks previous in the Semi Final.
It was Melton who enjoyed the better start to the Grand Final, managing to kick the first goal of the game through Jaime Nankiville, who was the beneficiary of good teamwork from Tara Crisp who kept the ball alive in the forward pocket.
The goal sparked Manor Lakes into action, enjoying a good passage of play over the next 10 minutes. Yana Frontczak kicked the Storm’s first goal after she cleverly sharked a ruck tap from Amanda Masterson, snapping through a goal from 25 metres out. A couple of minutes later, Frontczak was at it again, benefitting from great defensive pressure from the Storm, which saw Frontczak soccering a loose ball off the ground.
Kicking against a slight breeze, Centrals needed to respond and ensure that the Storm couldn’t get further in front. To their credit, Centrals pushed hard and enjoyed a solid patch of territory over the final five minutes of the first quarter, but were unable to put a goal on the board, instead only kicking two behinds. That left Centrals trailing by seven points at quarter-time.
With the conditions continually changing, possession was harder to gain in the second quarter with light drizzle falling. It was Melton who largely dominated the second quarter, but faced a major obstacle in the Manor Lakes defense. In particular, Jovy Coulson played a ‘goalkeeper’ role for the Storm, constantly repelling many Melton attacks.
Goals were hard to come by in such a bruising affair, however Kellee McIntosh was able to open the scoring with a brilliant drop kick goal from 30 metres out to extend the Manor Lakes lead to 13 points. Suddenly, it felt as though Manor Lakes could do the double in the finals.
However, Melton just continued to attack, and finally got their reward when Tara Crisp was awarded a free kick for a push in the back, converting to give Centrals a chance at half-time. Seven points was again the difference at half-time, with both teams physically feeling the effects of a bruising, taxing affair.
Manor Lakes made their move in the third quarter, taking control of the game through winning the clearances around the ground, and converting as a result. Firstly, Amanda Masterson opened up the second half scoring with a good running goal, working in tandem with Frontczak who cleverly tapped the ball her way.
A couple of minutes later, McIntosh extended the Storm’s lead by 19 points with another goal from close range, benefitting from a quick kick out of a ruck contest from Suzie Letzing. Letzing, for her part, also hit the scoreboard, extending the Storm’s lead to a game high 25 points minutes later with another goal.
Melton was in desperate trouble at that point, and needed to respond. However, while they had countless opportunity inside forward 50, they were only able to kick one goal for the remainder of the quarter. That came through Alice Masters, who took a strong contested mark directly in front, and made no mistake. It meant that with just one quarter to go, Manor Lakes were in front by 17 points.
The last quarter was all Melton as they threw everything at Manor Lakes in order to get back into the game. However, they were unable to get reward for the majority of the quarter – kicking four behinds in the first half of the term. That was until Nankiville snapped through a goal from the pocket, which saw the margin suddenly cut to seven points.
Melton were now dominating possession and launched a barrage against the Manor Lakes defence. However, the Storm were able to constantly stop attack after attack and just hold on. Although Nankiville had another opportunity late in the game, her kick was touched short of the goal line, which did bring golden point into the equation, albeit briefly, with a possible drawn game a possibility.
It was not to be for Centrals. Manor Lakes completed an amazing double against the Centrals in the finals series, taking the premiership in a thriller, 6.3 (39) to 4.9 (33).
For her tireless efforts in defense, Coulson was awarded the best on ground medal for Manor Lakes.
By Michael Thompson
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Last Modified on 23/08/2016 23:20