FINALS - Week 1

Men’s Seniors

On Saturday, the boys headed to Elsternwick Park for the big second Semi-Final against St Kevin’s.  After watching the Development side come from behind to win their knock out final, it was a bright start for our lads and we soon had the first two goals on the board. Through George Burbury and then the second set up by some brilliant play from Nathan Boucher, who exploded past his opponent and chiselled a great centring kick to the top of the goal square.  Unfortunately St Kevin’s lost two of their prime movers in Brown and Critchley early on and this seemed to rattle them a bit as we banged on another two through Cassidy and Ferguson to take a 25 point lead before SKOB had even hit the scoreboard.  You don’t win thirty of your last thirty-six games by accident though and the SKOB machine burst to life at the end of the first quarter kicking four goals in five amazing minutes of football to reduce the margin to 1 point at quarter time.  The second quarter started as a bit of an arm wrestle before Michie goaled to extend our lead beyond a goal.  We slowly were getting on top and managed to kick two more through Burbury and Hibbins to take a handy 21 point lead into half time.  The third quarter saw St Kevin’s come out firing and they added the first two goals to get the margin back to 9 points.  We held firm though and eventually Ferguson added his second and then Taylor Hunt kicked a ripper from the far flank to extend the margin back out to 23 points at three-quarter time.  With the Grand Final within reach, Ferguson got out the back early in the last quarter and extended the margin to a game high 29 points with his third of the day.  We probably then went back into our shells a little and the SKOB machine smelled a chance and kicked the next couple of goals to bring it back to 15 points.  They then kicked another after getting a free kick near the goal square and when Billy Kanakis dobbed a ripper from near the boundary the margin was back to 1 point with five minutes to play!  The last five minutes was frantic and we suddenly found our mojo again with Ferguson instrumental in driving the ball forward.  With two minutes to play, Burbury floated a kick towards the goal square where Hugh Johnson kicked it out of mid-air to give us a 7-point lead and some breathing space.  SKOB went forward again but an unbelievable spoil on Kanakis from Burbury saved the day and the Grand Final spot was ours!!  Hylton quite outstanding both on the ball and in the ruck, Dixon brave all day, Boucher terrific, Ferguson and Burbury great up forward and young guns Sam Parsons and Fraser Cameron as solid as a rock down back.  We’ve now made ten Grand Finals in the past sixteen years including seven of the past eleven in A Grade.  We now need to make it count in two weeks’ time with a deserved flag!  Go Lions!

Men’s Development

For the Development team this was our first final in three years. We hadn't won a final since 2012 and De La Salle, our opponent in this elimination final, had ended our season twice during that time. 

We shared the honours with one win a piece in the regular season, but we had won our last eleven and were very confident. Not even a late change an hour before the game could take our mind off the job. Christian Middleton was promoted to the senior side and Will Pocknee came in ready to do a job. 

Both teams fielded very strong sides, with De La qualifying a number of their senior players and Kyle Emley, Jake Trotter, Sam Sofrinidis and Ferg Huntington all included in our team for this round.

It started like a final and with a familiar breeze at Elsternwick Park assisting De La in the first quarter we were up against it. They were on. We played good football in patches and only some resolute defending ensured that we were kept their score in check. We trailed by two goals at quarter time and were yet to kick a goal. 

We came out strongly in the second and kicked two goals in quick succession. Our midfield started to own the football. Jake Trotter continued his strong start to the game with a long goal from outside fifty. While the wind was certainly an advantage, De La did not go away. They kicked one goal against the breeze to lead by that margin at half-time. A significant concern was that Julian Hampton, one of our best players all season and a highly decorated footballer at this club, appeared to injure his calf and would not return for the rest of the game.  It was by no means panic stations but we would need a big second half. 

We played an extra defender in the third quarter and it appeared to pay dividends. 19 year old Sam Sofronidis, who played his first VFL game last weekend, played as a loose man. He not only repelled their attacks but gave us terrific drive from the backline. Luther Lyon was the beneficiary going forward. We came out of the break kicking the first three goals against the wind. We looked like we had almost broken the back of our opposition. Then some undisciplined play stopped our moment. We gave away critical free kicks and were punished on the scoreboard. Giving De La the lead at three-quarter time and some hope in the last.

The look in the eyes of the boys at the final break showed that we were not giving this up. The last quarter was inspired. We kicked five goals to their none with some unbelievable individual efforts and some great team football. Captain Ben Mason's goal was a highlight. His attempt to centre the ball skewed off the side of his boot and went in from the boundary line. Everything went our way. Luther Lyon ended with five goals; our midfield of Emley, Trotter, Pool and Sullivan dominated the final quarter and we live to fight another day. That day is next Sunday against Old Melburnians, a team that we have not lost to this year. 

We loved all the support on Saturday and we hope to get a great turn out next weekend as we look to join the Seniors in Grand Final week and add to our growing winning streak of twelve games.

A great weekend for the football club.