Lacrosse SA club North Eagles breaks 63-year premiership drought with win over Brighton

A local sporting club has remarkably broken a 63-year premiership drought a week after advancing to the big dance with an extra time win.

A local SA sports club has broken a 63-year premiership drought with a dominant display after only just making this season’s grand final.

The North Eagles Lacrosse Club topped lacrosse juggernaut Brighton 17-8 in Saturday’s Men’s State League grand final to achieve the club’s first premiership since the 1960 season.

The Eagles only just made this year’s grand final when it defeated Glenelg 9-8 with a golden goal a week ago, but would not leave it so late against Brighton, scoring four goals to none in the second term to open up an ultimately insurmountable lead.

The side had an even contribution across the board as they surged towards history, with nine separate goal scorers on the day, including Nathan Twisk with four and Jesse Whinnen with three.

“It’s hard to describe the feeling – we’re really stoked about the result as a club and pretty happy that the program we put together has paid dividends and the goals we’ve set out have come to fruition,” club president Matt Larwood said.

North Eagles Lacrosse Club celebrates its historic premiership. Picture: The Eagles Lacrosse Club

“We lost to Brighton twice during the season but we had a lot of confidence after beating Glenelg with a golden goal the week before.

“We didn’t have that situation where we had already played our ‘grand final’ in that game and we went in to the Brighton game pretty confident we could get a result.”

It was an improved performance in the finals for the Eagles, who bowed out in straight sets last year, the side defeating Woodville, Glenelg and Brighton after finishing third.

Larwood said the team had been able to produce more full team efforts when it mattered most.

“Probably in previous seasons we relied on one or two players to really stand up and produce but this year everyone has played their role across the board,” he said.

The premiership marks the club's first since 1960. Picture: The Eagles Lacrosse Club

“From the keeper to the attackers, everyone stood up and everyone performed, which I think was the difference for us.”

While Larwood admitted a few players may be looking to take a step back from the game after finally achieving the ultimate success for the club, he believed the premiership could prove to be a catalyst for sustained success.

“It’s hard to know what we’re going to look like next year, there are probably a few guys from the team who might be looking to call it a day after this but we’ve also been able to develop some really good players coming through,” he said.

“The team culture has really progressed this year and we know the current model we have works and we feel it can definitely work into the future.”