NFL Division 2 grand final: Lower Plenty dedicates premiership win to former player Patrick Cronin
LOWER Plenty captain Patrick Flynn has dedicated the club’s stunning grand final victory to former player Patrick Cronin, declaring “he was there with us today”.
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THIS was for Patrick.
In the emotional aftermath of Lower Plenty’s stunning Division 2 grand final victory on Saturday, Bears captain Patrick Flynn dedicated the club’s first premiership since 2011 to former player Patrick Cronin.
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Patrick, 19, was killed during a brawl at the Windy Mile pub in 2016, hours after making his senior debut for the Bears alongside his brother Lucas.
Lower Plenty’s players had PC12 stitched on their jumpers and Flynn said Patrick’s memory had provided inspiration for his team.
Flynn paused when asked about Patrick, taking a moment to reflect on the young footballer’s legacy at Montmorency Park.
“He was there with us today, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.
Patrick was a promising junior footballer, a dual under-19 best and fairest winner who would have been in contention to be part of the Bears’ grand final team.
His father Matt was among hordes of Lower Plenty supporters who celebrated the club’s 3.10 (28) to 2.10 (22) triumph at Preston City Oval.
Flynn’s influence on the Northern Football League decider was profound.
With players out on their feet in the last 10 minutes of a gruelling encounter, he willed himself to contest after contest and hauled down a courageous pack mark running back with the flight of the ball.
The Bears ruckman was adjudged best afield and declared the grand final win “the best day of my life”.
“It’s such an incredible feeling. There’s such a great amount of people down here,” he said.
“I love every one of them. We have really become a family. It’s the best day of my life, I’ll tell you that much.”
The victory was secured by a last-second snap from Ben Paterson as Lower Plenty, held goalless until three-quarter-time, kicked 3.7 and kept Eltham scoreless in the last term.
“We have fought so hard to be where we are at,” Flynn said.
“We won it in 2011 and we spent five years up in Division 1. We fought hard, nearly made the finals one year, but we never quite made it.
“To finally make it back there, it just means the world to me.”
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