Mount Pleasant beat Heathcote to win premiership

The Heathcote league’s most successful club has added another premiership after almost two decades. Here’s how they came from fourth to do it.

The pain of last year has led to the ultimate triumph for Mount Pleasant as the Blues ended their premiership drought in the Heathcote District league.

The oldest team in the competition won their 20th flag with a hard-fought 19-point win over Heathcote in the grand final at Huntly.

After three close quarters the Blues broke away in the final term, kicking four goals to one to win their first premiership in 17 years.

“It was a great grand final, an arm wrestle and it was the first team to crack loses and it took a long time for a team to get there,” Mount Pleasant president Phil Whiting said.

“It’s the best fourth quarter I’ve seen in country footy.”

Whiting said the lessons learnt in last season’s grand final loss to Lockington Bamawm United put the club in good stead.

Mount Pleasant players celebrate during the grand final in the Heathcote league. Picture: Nikki Gee.

The Blues had to win four straight matches to win the title, including wins over White Hills (preliminary final) and the Saints (grand final) who beat the Blues just before the finals.

But Whiting said the side embraced the challenge.

“We had a really great team of young blokes with no egos and they bonded tightly together and they believed in each other,” he said.

“They knew what to expect, they tasted it last year. For us there was a real benefit we had to do it the hard way.

“Last year having the week off before the grand final wasn’t good for us.”

Mount Pleasant’s win came after the club hit rock bottom in 2017 with a wooden spoon.

Whiting was president at the time and with the help of others the club turned around their fortunes.

Now, the team is one of the youngest in the league and the best.

“In terms of our playing list there was 10 changes from last year’s grand final side to this year,” Whiting said.

“Last year 11 of our players were boys who played third grade footy with us, this year 15 of our players had played third grade footy for the club.

“The average age of our list is around 22.”

Whiting said player-coach Adam Baird and leading goalkicker Ben Weightman had been instrumental in turning the club around on the field with Darren Walsh also playing a key part.

Mount Pleasant run out on to the ground ahead of the grand final. Picture: Nikki Gee.

The only sad part about the grand final was Weightman missing with a back injury.

“I want to thank Darren Walsh, he came to us at our lowest point with a plan to return us to the top and he has achieved that dream,” Whiting said.

“Sometimes dreams do come true. Ben is one of the reasons we’ve gone from bottom to top.

“He’s been inspirational, not just kicking goals and turning up, he’s taken a lot of kids under his wing.

“And Adam Baird’s leadership, he’s grown as a young man. He’s been fantastic and I’ve never seen a bloke who’s willed himself into contests and be damaged and keep going.”

Whiting said he hoped one premiership win would break open the shackles for more success in the future.

“We’ve been working very hard as a club and a committee over the past few years,” he said.

“This success has been driven off our young locals who have come out and played third grade footy for our club and stayed.

“We know it is very much built on our young players.

“And they’ve turned into fantastic senior players.”