EFL 2019: Blackburn digests Premier Division grand final defeat
Blackburn had been hoping to replicate South Croydon’s 2017 premiership heroics by upsetting Vermont in the EFL Premier Division grand final, but the powerhouse club showed its class on the league’s biggest day.
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There was to be no fairytale flag.
Blackburn was hoping to replicate South Croydon’s heroics of 2017 in Saturday’s EFL Premier Division grand final against Vermont, but its hopes of a first top-tier flag were extinguished by one of the greatest local football sides ever assembled.
The Red Jacket army braved the wind, cold and gloomy conditions at Bayswater Oval in the club’s first top flight grand final since 1975.
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But any chances Blackburn had of causing a boilover were all but extinguished by half time.
Vermont established a 29-point advantage at the long break and grinded to a 12.18 (90) to 8.6 (54) win.
The Eagles entered the decider having dropped just one game for the year and were at Winx-like odds to complete back-to-back flags.
And it put the finishing touches on a dominant season — its average winning margin was 57 points — with a 36-point win.
Blackburn coach Brendan Allen said his side was outclassed.
“You just look across every line, they’ve got VFL standard players, AFL standard players, so it’s a pretty star-studded line up but they had to put it together,” Allen said.
“They’re well coached, they play to a system, which we knew and worked out but just couldn’t stop it.”
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Allen said improvement in the club’s depth would be crucial to closing the gap on Vermont.
“It’s probably our bottom four or five weren’t as good as their bottom four or five,” he said.
“That’s probably what it comes down to. We’ve got some really good top-line players — the same as them — but it’s your bottom four or five that usually win or lose in these sort of games.”
Blackburn had made the previous two preliminary finals and had fan support on its side after winning through to the decider.
The Burners led by six points at the first break but had the advantage of the wind in the opening stanza before Vermont piled on six goals to one in the second term.
Allen said his side was unable to replicate its performances from the previous two finals when it eliminated South Croydon and Balwyn from the flag race.
“Were they overawed by the situation? Probably. It was our first grand final for this group and we want to make sure we’re back here next year,” he said.
“We just got beaten by a better team on the day but my message was we’ve got to improve.
“They’re the benchmark and we’ve got to get better.”
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