It was almost a foregone conclusion, but in football anything can happen. However, in the case of the Senior team at Old Westbourne the result that everyone was expecting eventuated.
It was a massive weekend for the club with 3 teams participating in Grand Finals. And while results didn't go the right way in two of the games, the Seniors topped off a glorious year in fine fashion.
In front of a vocal crowd at Garvey Oval, Fab Gatti's men run out for the last time in season 2007. A massive rev up in the rooms before the game, Fab reminded the players that they had one more step to complete in the year journey, to win the flag.
It was a slow start for the favourites, with Ivanhoe piling on four unanswered goals in the opening stanza to go into the quarter time break with a 24 point lead. And maybe a few people were thinking the team were a bit undercooked with a couple of players returning from injury for the game.
The second quarter was a different story, with the Warriors putting through 5 goals to 2 to close the gap at 1/2 time to just 3 points. It was during this quarter that a few players were starting to hit their straps, but the key for the rest of the game would be to restrict the Ivanhoe spearhead, Angelo Pace.
The premiership quarter saw some inaccurate kicking from the Warriors keep Ivanhoe in the game, with only 2 goals from 9 scoring shots it was the defence of Old Westbourne that allowed them to take a lead of 2 goals into the final break. Excellent quarters from Stu Balloch and Aaron Miller ensured the Warriors had the upper hand going into the last.
Now it was do or die for the Warriors, and all the hard work throughout the season would come to fruition as the boys totally dominated the last quarter. Ivanhoe were spent, however Old Westbourne looked like they had fresh legs as they put through 7 more goals. It was the run all around the ground from Brett Connors and Frank Pavez, and the run out of the backline from Charlie Hunter, as well as contributions from the other players all over the oval that saw Old Westbourne prevail and record the clubs second senior premiership.
A magnificent year for the club with promotion to D2, only being topped off by the premiership victory.
Click here for the full results.
The Reserves started the big weekend for the club with a number of inclusions from the Seniors to bolster the teams ranks. With an awesome year under their belts, the team was confident that it would be their day. Results against Swinburne Uni during the year had been differential, with a 13 point loss in round 2 and a 3 point win in round 12. However, the slow starts that had almost brought about the teams downfall in a few of the home and away games came up again, with Swinburne kicking away to a 12 point lead in the opening term. They also looked like they would be without their captain Shaun Anderson for the rest of the day with an ankle injury sidelining him midway through the quarter.
The tables turned at the start of the 2nd, with Westbourne closing the margin before a ten minute lapse saw Swinburne kick away. The Warriors were down by 34 points going into the main break and a massive turn around was required to have any chance in the 2nd half. All wasn't lost, as the boys had been in similar positions throughout the year to find themselves come back in the 2nd half to snatch the game away from the opposition.
The Warriors again managed to close the gap at the start of the 3rd quarter, but couldn't continue on that way thoughout the term finding themselves down by 35 points going into the last quarter. It would take the biggest turn around of the year to come back into this game, but the odds were stacked against the Warriors. The last quarter the team showed heart, not giving up at any stage and managed to put through 4 goals, but Swinburne managed to convert the same amount and sealed their fate for the day with the final difference not changing from the 3/4 time break.
It was a disappointing finish to what had been an excellent year, with Andrew Horsburgh able to turn the tables from a slow start to the season.
Click here for the full results.
The Under 19s had defied their critics all year, and finished off the year magnificently finishing in 3rd place on the ladder. Two excellent wins in the lead up finals brought Matt Campbell's boys into the clubs first Under 19 Grand Final.
A flying start from the Warriors saw them kick an incredible 8 goals in the first quarter with the breeze. The boys showed their free flowing game with everyone putting in around the ground. Ryan Taylor kicked two of the goals, and it looked like a very promising start against ladder leaders Fitzroy Reds.
However, the breeze at the ground proved to be something very hard to defend against, with the opposition kicking 6 goals to none to add to their 2 goal tally from the first quarter. Coming into 1/2 time Fitzroy lead by 3 points, and signs weren't looking good for Old Westbourne as they had lost two of their big men in Ryan Taylor and Matt Williamson.
It would be a vital 3rd quarter for the boys, needing to kick away to a good lead with the breeze to ensure they had something to defend in the last quarter. However some good Fitzroy defence restricted the Warriors to only 1 goal while they put 2 away into the wind. While not totally out of their hands, a big task was to come for the team to turn around the 10 point 3/4 time deficit.
The siren went to signal the start of the final quarter, but the wind proved to be too much of a challenge. But the boys never gave in and kept fiting right to the very end. The final score saw them go down by 44 points, however they were gallant in defeat in front of a big crowd.
The team done the club proud and showed what the Warrior spirit was all about. Each of the players were able to hold their heads up for they each displayed what they were capable of throughout the year and right up until the end. Hayden Templeton, Shannon Low and Ben Smith were the best for the Warriors, but each player could have found themselves in that list.
Click here for the full results.
Last Modified on 14/02/2008 09:53