Riddell breaks RDFL premiership drought, defeating Diggers Rest
Despite not kicking a goal in the first or third quarters, Riddell powered to a drought-breaking premiership victory over Diggers Rest on Sunday.
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Riddell is back on top of the Riddell District Football League.
An eight-goal fourth quarter saw the Bombers smash rivals Diggers Rest by 29 points on Sunday.
The 14.9 (93) to 9.10 (64) victory breaks a nine-year premiership drought for the club and a grand final hoodoo having lost to the Burras in their previous two trips to the big dance.
A massive crowd packed into Romsey Park for the league’s first grand final since 2019 and were treated to a see-sawing game on an immaculate surface.
Riddell’s lead neared 50 points mid-way through the final term before Diggers Rest kicked the final three goals of the game to add some respectability.
Bombers’ gun midfielder Callum Williamson ran riot to claim the McIntyre Medal for best-on-ground with partner-in-crime Michael Edwards equally as influential.
Justin Belleville, a premiership player with Riddell, can now add premiership coach to his resume.
“That’s a couple of years in the making that,” he said.
“We’ve got a young group, so this is all the hard work paying off and for all people behind the scenes.
“They’ve showed resilience all year and when we were challenged today they showed it again. I’m very proud of them.”
The wind at Romsey Park was a significant factor in the game.
Diggers Rest had the breeze at its back in the first quarter and piled on 4.5 to a single behind to take a 28-point lead into the first change.
Luke Delahey was dominant with the opening goal of the game and a pair of classy assists.
However, Riddell was in front just 14 minutes into the second quarter as it booted six goals to take an 11-point lead into half-time.
Dylan Tarczon kicked the Bombers’ first goal at the second minute mark and Edwards booted two goals and won several critical clearances to put his team on top.
The third quarter would prove match-defining.
Diggers Rest managed just two goals as Riddell defended grimly.
Ben Sonogan’s shift to full-back proved a masterstroke, taking several intercept marks.
“Holding them out, it did yeah (put us in the box seat), I think we defended really well,” Belleville said.
“We knew we had plenty of run left in us and we just had to be brave and not go into our shell and I think that showed at the end.
“We needed to take the game on, it’s not rocket science, that’s how I coach and the boys were fantastic.”
Trailing by just two points at three-quarter-time, the Bombers wasted no time taking the lead as Nathan Croft put his team in front of the second time on the afternoon.
Croft, Tim Walsh, Croft again, Williamson, Tarczon twice, and a Liam Berry pair ensured Riddell kicked eight unanswered majors.
Not a single goal was kicked at the southern end until the final minutes of the match as Diggers finished strongly thanks to Tom Schwarzenberg and Lachlan Ronaldson.
Williamson, Edwards, Croft, Tarczon, Sonogan and skipper Josh Grabham excelled.
For Diggers Rest, Mitch Jensen tried all day, Jaidyn Caruana was strong in midfield and Luke Delahey, Chris Lawton, Cole Laurie and Marcus Calveresi also stood tall.
“Cal is a superstar and has been for a couple of years,” Belleville said of his medal-winning midfielder.
“As soon as we knew it would be a dry deck we thought he was going to tear it apart.
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“He and Micky Edwards were absolutely fantastic, the midfield is the key to how we play.”
Injuries have been an issue all season for the Burras and were again with defender Andrew Tyquin carried off with a knee injury in the first quarter and Ryan Mullen pulling up short in the third term.
The Burras did not leave empty-handed, winning the reserve grade premiership as well as the A-Grade, Anica Scherer best on court, and B-Grade netball titles.
Wallan claimed the under-19s, defeating Riddell, while Macedon won the C-Grade netball flag over Western Rams.
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