Preliminary Finals wrap

The Under 13's received a shock in the four days leading up to their sudden death prelim final match against Athelstone at Fitzroy on September 2.
Four major players were suddenly unavailable. Michael had undergone surgery for a broken nose, Graeme had an attack of appendicitis which required surgery, Jacob suffered a serious head injury in a fall and Alex was simply unavailable. The coach brought in Scott from the Under 12's and stuck with Andrew, U/12, and Ollie, U/11.
Despite the last minute setbacks the team performed really well, never headed by the 'Raggies'. If anything, our 5 point winning margin flattered Athelstone. "All played well" as they say but I was really impressed with Ollie, the Under 11, who after setting up our first two goals, played all four quarters. Next week's grand finals against Pooraka should be a beauty!

The Under 15's were level or slightly ahead of Athelstone until the final quarter. A series of mysterious umpiring decisions saw Athelstone draw level and then kick the winning goal with minutes to spare. Despite our best efforts we couldn't equalise and force the game into extra time. But a terrific season from the Under 15's who werre minor premiers and have laid the foundation for a competitive Under 16's team next year.

The Under 16's had the week off after winning their semi-final last Sunday and were expecting to play North Pines on the 9th. However, Broadview staged a huge upset to beat the Pines easily in their prelim final. Our 16's will be pretty warm favourites to take the flag.

We wish both teams well in what has been our best ever year.