Grand Final Review – Men’s Division Three
Written by Michael Shillito
The last game of a marathon day on Sunday was the Mens Division Three Grand Final, played under lights at Rosedale Oval between North Shore Bombers and Newtown Breakaways.
The Bombers had finished as minor premiers, dropping only one game during the regular season; but it took some last-minute heroics for them to get over UNSW-ES in the Semi Final. For Newtown, in their first season fielding a men’s team, a second-placed finish after the regular season was followed up by an 11-point win over Inner West in their Semi Final to get through to the competition decider.
North Shore’s only loss during the regular season had been to the Breakaways, and the Breakaways wasted no time in getting on the board, getting the centre break for Alex Evans to run around his opponent and score. From the bounce, Ashley Evans roved and ran forward before a long bomb found Alex Evans in the square. The match was barely a minute old, and already the Breakaways had two goals on the board.
The Bombers were shell-shocked. They had to steady the ship and work hard in the rest of the quarter; and were successful in stopping any more goals for the quarter. But even though they were only two goals down at quarter time, it seemed a big mountain to climb to get back in the contest.
The second quarter was just seconds old when Angus O’Connell went long from the 50 metre arc and slammed the Breakaways’ third goal through. The early, decisive break; just like in the first quarter. The Bombers were already facing the prospects of playing catch-up footy. They had to take risks, and the risks weren’t paying off. And when Alex Evans dribbled through his third goal, the Breakaways had set up a 25-point half time lead.
For much of the game, it was a defensive scrap around the wings. But the Bombers were never able to set anything up on their forward line and never really looked like scoring a goal. As the game wore on, the prospects were growing that the Breakaways would achieve the rare honour of keeping their opponents goal-less in a Grand Final; and their defence held firm all night.
The Breakaways could only manage two goals in the third term and one in the last, but it barely mattered against an opponent that failed to draw twin flags all night. The siren completed a dominant display that had seen them prevail by 50 points.
John Anthony Murtagh was awarded the best-on-ground medal, while Thomas Tullett and David Bretag also featured prominently for the Breakaways. On a dirty night for the Bombers, Keegan Gyoery, Cam Pugh and Kerryn Hughes kept putting in the efforts.
It completed a shattering day for North Shore. To have come to Grand Final day with three teams, all of them minor premiers with a total of two losses all season, and to come away empty-handed was a bitter pill to swallow.
But this was the Breakaways’ night, when they completely dominated in all facets of the game. A long-established club in women’s footy, this season was the first in which they welcomed a men’s team, and what a campaign it has been for them in their first season.
Match Results:
Newtown 2.3 4.4 6.8 7.12 (54)
North Shore 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 (4)
Goals :
Newtown – A. Evans 3, L. Kirby, A. Ladomatos, D. McLanders, A. O’Connell
Best :
Newtown – J. Murtagh, T. Tulett, D. Colvin, D. Bretag, A. Beves, S. Young.
North Shore – K. Gyoery, C. Pugh, K. Hughes, J. Barclay, B. Harvey.
At Rosedale Oval, Sunday 27th September 2020.
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