SAAS First XVIII football: Sacred Heart defeats Prince Alfred College by 26 points to win 2022 premiership

An inspired captain’s performance gave Sacred Heart a thrilling win over a resilient Prince Alfred College in the 2022 SAAS First XVIII football grand final. Full match report.

An inspired captain’s performance from Tyson Coe gave Sacred Heart College a 14.9 (93) to 10.7 (67) win over Prince Alfred College in the 2022 First XVIII football grand final on Saturday night.

The Hearts leader produced a terrific display on the ball, crashing into contests and distributing with high efficiency to win the Colin Steinert medal for best on ground.

Sacred Heart dominated the first half against the previously undefeated Prince Alfred side, controlling the middle through Coe and giving gun forwards Ash Moir and Tyson McCabe multiple opportunities to hit the scoreboard.

Princes managed to shift the momentum in the third term however, cutting a 30-point halftime deficit to just 13 points by the final break.

Sacred Heart College has won the 2022 First XVIII football premiership over Prince Alfred College. Picture: Sports Association Adelaide Schools

PAC captain Kane McAuliffe was a handful across half-back and through the middle for his team, while Tom Tasker tallied three majors in the quarter to bring the Reds back.

While they conceded the first major of the final term, it was all Hearts in the closing stages, with stars Jakob Ryan, Will McCabe and Ash Moir standing up across the defence and forwardline to support Coe’s tireless midfield efforts.

Ned Atkinson, son of former Sturt Magarey Medalist Brodie Atkinson, also stood tall, delivering two late long range goals as his team stormed home to win the premiership.

“We made it, the feeling is unreal,” Coe said.

Sacred Heart's Tyson Coe was awarded the Colin Steinert medal for his tireless work out of the middle against Prince Alfred College. Picture: Maya Thompson Instagram: @midfieldphotog

“PAC, Sladey (Matt Slade) and his team, they were amazing and they do a great job – we’re always nervous to play them.

“It was a full effort from everyone and the crowd was unreal too.”

Coe also gave credit to injured midfield star Lachie Scannell, who has missed out on playing this season, as the “heart and soul of the team.”

Prince Alfred captain Kane McAuliffe was humble in defeat and said his side would use the loss to bounce back for its Intercol matchup with St Peter’s in two weeks.

Prince Alfred captain Kane McAuliffe said his team would use the loss to bounce back in Intercol. Picture: Prince Alfred College

“You’ve got to congratulate Hearts, they’ve set the standard all year and they deserved the win,” he said.

“Our boys, we’ve got to make sure we learn from it.

“We’ll go into Intercol hungry and try and get the win there.”

The win capped off a successful day for Sacred Heart, the college’s reserves side taking out the division two premiership and the year 10s falling just short in their grand final against PAC.

Schools will compete in inter-divisional matchups this weekend, with Intercol rounding out the 2022 season on August 27.