Canterbury claims VAFA Division 4 flag

IN JUST its second year in the VAFA, Canterbury won its first premiership when it claimed the Division 4 title with a hard-fought win over Parkside.

VAFA Division 4 Football grand final: Parkside V Canterbury. Parkside's Liam Bell and Canterbury's Douglas Hutchinson. Picture: Josie Hayden

in JUST its second year in the VAFA, Canterbury won its first premiership when it claimed the Division 4 title with a hard-fought win over Parkside, 8.11 (59) to 6.8 (44), at Garvey Oval on Saturday.

Cobras coach Michael Harper said he felt in control for most of the match.

“We had them all day but we just couldn’t break the shackles,” Harper said.

“The gap on the scoreboard felt bigger than what it actually was for much of the day.”

Harper said his side had put a lot of work into match-ups before the game.

“We had a focus on stopping the Potter father-son combination in Parkdale’s forward line,” Harper said.

“Clayton Skate did a fantastic job tagging McLaren, who was the competition best and fairest.”

Lachlan Chapman continued his red hot finals form, taking out the best on ground medal, while Nicholas Szabo and Jeremy Gillen also impressed.

The premiership was the culmination of two years work according to Harper.

“When I came in with the new coaching team at the start of last year we made the aim to have them out of the bottom division within two years,” he said.

“There was just so much relief when we won the preliminary final last week and we could say that we had our achieved our goal.

“To then go on and win a premiership is really icing on the cake.”