Southern league 2019: Clayton earns another shot at Hampton Park

After taking a thumping from Hampton Park in Round 1, Clayton has bounced back brilliantly and will meet the Redbacks in the grand final.

Clayton started the season with a 140-point loss to Hampton Park.

Next Sunday the Clays will end it in the SFNL Division 3 grand final — and against the Redbacks team that split them apart in Round 1.

The Clays are through to their first decider in nine years after defeating Endeavour Hills in the preliminary final at Heatherton on Saturday.

The last time they played in a grand final was in Division 1, and they’ve known some tough and testing times since then.

They failed to win a game in 2017 and against last year, suffering relegation in successive seasons.

“From where we were to where we are now, a bit hard to believe,’’ first-year coach Jason Smith said this morning.

“But I’ve said to the boys a lot this year, from exceptional circumstances comes exceptional success. The things that happened in the past are driving our group.

“Even last week when we lost to Hampton Park in the second semi, straight after the game the leaders stood up and said, ‘Forget that, move on straight away, we’ve got a double chance for a reason’.’’

Dean Evangelista kicked two important goals for the Clays.

Clayton captain and stalwart Jayden Gilmour said after Saturday’s preliminary final victory: “It has been a long battle to get here. At the start of the season, it wasn’t looking the best and I don’t think many people gave us much of a chance of reaching the grand final.”

The black-and-whites earned another crack at flag favourite Hampton Park with a disciplined display against the Hills.

The Clays set up their 40-point triumph in the opening term when they slammed home six unanswered goals with the wind.

“We used the wind really well and held them when they had it in the second quarter,” Gilmour, who has seen more than his share of lean times at Meade Oval, said.

“I think we showed a lot more desperation today than we did the previous week. We knew it was our last chance,” he added of the 14.9 (93) to 7.11 (53) result.

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Chris Morrison, so often a matchwinner in the midfield, gave the Clays some bite when moved forward and finished with two valuable goals. Dean Evangalista’s pair of majors in the first quarter helped set his team alight.

Jack Coutts was another star in attack for the winners with four goals, and ruckman Jesse Henderson and dasher Byron Hoe were superb in the difficult conditions.

Luke Coad and Luke Ruff were among the many other effective contributors for the Magpies.

The Falcons were well served by Brendan Moldritch, Nic Terrill and Sam Delosa.

Clayton and Hampton Park will vie for premiership honours next Sunday at Heatherton.

It will be the sixth meeting between the clubs this season. The Clays were the only side that defeated the Redbacks and Smith pointed out they were also in two of the other games.

He said there was an element of “rabbit in the headlights’’ about Clayton in the second semi, with only three players having appeared in a senior final.

“I think we know what it takes to beat them,’’ Smith said.

“Attack on the footy is going to be a key. They showed us that last week. The pressure they brought to us was almost Clayton-like.’’

Class act Darcy Kingsbury (ankle) will attempt to make himself available for the grand final but Smith said he wasn’t prepared to go in with unfit players.