St Bernard’s wins its third A-grade flag in VAFA, defeating Old Trinity in a thriller at Princes Park

ST BERNARD’S claimed its first senior flag in 13 years on Sunday, defeating Old Trinity by eight points in a thrilling VAFA Premier Division decider.

St Bernard's Shaun Clarke lifts up Alex Boyse as they celebrate goal late in the game. Picture: Stuart Milligan

ST BERNARD’S claimed its first senior flag in 13 years on Sunday after defeating Old Trinity by eight points in a thrilling Victorian Amateur Football Association Premier Division decider.

The two sides met three times this season for a combined margin of 18 points, with the Ts logging a seven-point win in the major semi-final a fortnight earlier.

Sunday’s grand final at Princes Park was not going to be any different.

The arm-wrestle opened up after quarter-time, both sides going end to end with fast ball movement.

Accuracy proved critical for the Snowdogs, as Chad Jones stamped his authority on the match in the second term, slotting three goals in 15 minutes, including a bull’s eye set shot from the boundary, to help his side open a 16-point lead at the main break.

That’s when Old Trinity found another gear.

Gabe Hamilton and Andrew Kyriacopoulos led the charge in the midfield with Edward Weatherson and Sebastian Nicolosi the beneficiaries up forward, the Ts booting five unanswered goals in the third term to convert a 19-point deficit into a two-goal lead before Snowdogs ruckman Shaun Clarke broke the momentum.

Old Trinity dominated all key performance indicators in the third term, including a 20-5 advantage in uncontested marks, to lead by a kick.

St Bernard’s coach Anthony Rock resisted the urge to read the riot act at the final change.

The second-year mentor spoke of ebbs and flows – the third quarter had ebbed in favour of the Ts, but the Snowdogs had 30 minutes to turn that around.

With hamstrung Adam Bentick deep forward on one leg, Tom Sullivan and Jock Nelson medallist Mitchell Hannan led the charge in midfield.

Alex Boyse (four goals) and Ben Ronke (two) were electrifying up forward, and when Sullivan ran into an open goal late in the match, St Bernard’s had sealed a win, 17.11 (113) to 15.15 (105).

“Any premiership is a great premiership,” Rock said.

“I suppose we came here two years ago to implement a plan and execute it and under pressure we did that, so for me, for the group and for the club it’s really important.”

Rock said Hannan, a key inclusion after Footscray’s VFL finals campaign ended last weekend, was exceptional.

“He’s a jet. He’s got Nathan Fyfe qualities,” Rock said.

“Alex Boyse to seal that goal, Tom Sullivan to kick a goal on the run, there were some really special efforts across the board.

“It was an ebb and flow game and we just needed to arrest that back in our favour, and I reckon we did that in the last quarter. It’s fantastic for the club.”