Portarlington react to ending 68-game losing streak

Portarlington has ended one of Victorian local footy’s longest streaks in a special Good Friday performance where the Demons were pushed to the limit by injuries. We go inside the emotional rooms.

Portarlington celebrate. Picture: Mark Wilson

The drought is finally over.

After 68 winless games, battling Bellarine footy club Portarlington has finally banked its first victory since 2018 with a stunning 31-point triumph over Newcomb, led by former AFL players and new arrivals Jaryd Cachia, Teia Miles and Connor Menadue who brought a new layer of class to the perennial struggler.

The Demons, who had not won in the BFNL since July, 2018 – also against the Power – had been 18 points down early at Portarlington Recreation Reserve in the opening round of the BFNL, and it looked like a case of, yet again, maybe next week.

However, it proved to be something far greater than a Good Friday for Demons supporters in the club’s 150th year as the home team ripped the game from Newcomb’s grasp with a 7.5 second term as Miles and Menadue kicked two each and linked up with great regularity.

Miles was often spectacular and used all over the ground, from on the ball, in defence and up forward where he provided a major difference for Portarlington in his first game in red and blue.

And the Demons did it with practically no bench by the final siren after Cachia and captain Mitch Turnbull reportedly suffered hamstring injuries in the second term.

There were emotional scenes post-game. Picture: Mark Wilson

In front of a bumper crowd in beautiful mid-20s conditions, the Demons would eventually run out winners 15.13 (103) to 10.12 (72).

Surrounded by hundreds of delirious Demons fans by the interchange bench, coach Warren Finlayson said it was a win for the true believers who had stuck by the club over the past six years.

“I’m just really proud,” Finlayson said when asked of the emotions he was feeling.

“The energy we get from the game, it puts us in good stead moving forward, we should be confident we can match it (with other teams).

“Newcomb beat other teams other than us last year.

“From the outset the community got around us, the pride they take into the game is phenomenal.”

Finlayson said with Cachia and Turnbull out of the game at half-time, Finlayson asked his charges for a huge effort, led by Menadue.

“We reflected what it meant to play here on Good Friday, we asked the boys to give a sacrifice,” he said.

“(We asked) how much they were prepared to give.

“There were tough times through the middle there a little bit. (Menadue) led from the front and led with his class and his attitude.

“We went down two key players at half time, they really responded, I couldn’t be any more prouder of the group. We just asked them to give, the game was going to be won inside the jumper and inside the head.

“We trusted in the processes we put in place.”

Jesse Hunter kicked a goal on debut. Picture: Mark Wilson

Stephen Heppel had a strong physical presence in the forward line for the Demons. Picture: Mark Wilson

Staring down a 25-point buffer at half time, the Power had cut the margin to just one point as the mercurial Jack Duke and Josh Saltalamacchia combined for a flurry of majors.

But Portarlington could not be denied and its defence stood tall, as Miles and new recruit Stephen Heppel emerged as a forward threat, answering with several six-goals of their own.

“We managed to jag a few goals against the run of play (in the third term),” Finlayson said.

“It was all in the jumper, in the heart and the mindset.”

Finlayson also liked the first game of Stephen Heppel, who was a presence up forward: “As a forward coach he said: ‘I’ll carry you this afternoon, boys’.”

He said Wiffen was concussed and would follow the league’s new protocols, putting him out of the game for 21 days.

In a sign for the future, debutant Jesse Hunter – who kicked more than 100 goals for the Demons last year in junior football – also slotted his maiden major for the club.

The only major downer for the Demons was an injury to Shane Wiffen who was taken off the ground midway through the third term on a stretcher.

The match was essentially sealed when a wobbly left footer from Matthew Fromholtz, who expertly roved the pack deep in Portarlington’s forward line, put the Demons 31 points up early in the fourth, ending one of the longest droughts in Victorian regional and country football.

Hundreds of loyal Demons fans went home happy, now thinking about going 2-0 next weekend.

The club’s marketing and sponsorship manager Darren Hellmann was elated with the result.

“I’m just so happy for everyone, it’s been a long time coming, a lot of hard work,” Hellmann said.

“That’s the monkey off our back, and momentum can take you places.

“It was a massive crowd … our community is so supportive of this club, it’s ridiculous.

“We’re getting done by 15, 20 goals every week, and every Saturday these people rock up.

“We’ve got 115 sponsors, there’s not many businesses in town.

“They don’t do it because some of them get the business back, they do it because they support the club.

“I need a new fence to fit them all on.

“I’m just going to enjoy the night, I told my wife I probably won’t be home until Tuesday.”

He said Menadue and Miles “brought class and poise” to the team.

“The ability to not panic and make the right decisions,” he said of their qualities.

“They work a lot with our young blokes, and the young blokes will get a lot better because of that.”

Originally published as Portarlington react to ending 68-game losing streak