VAFA Division 4: Aquinas defeats Manningham Cobras 14.10 (94) to 10.9 (69) to end a 21-year run of outs
It’s taken 21 years of blood, sweat and tears but Aquinas Old Collegians has finally won another senior premiership.
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It’s taken 21 years of blood, sweat and tears but Aquinas Old Collegians has finally won another senior premiership.
The Bloods last won a flag in the old E (East) Division in 1996 and were one of three clubs relegated to Division 4 at the end of the 2016 season.
As minor premiers, the Bloods were hot favourites to win Saturday’s grand final against perennial battlers Manningham Cobras at the Garvey Oval.
And, they didn’t disappoint their legion of supporters who flocked to the Bundoora ground.
It was tight in the first half — the Bloods led by two points at quarter-time before surrendering the lead midway through the second term after the Cobras bagged three goals in nine minutes.
But the Bloods got a couple of goals during time-on, through Jesse Butcher and Sam Williams, to restore a two-point lead by halftime.
Midway through the third term the Bloods began to pull away after kicking three unanswered goals in 10 minutes.
Nick Morrison-Storey, Williams and playing coach Ash Naulty snagged the goals before a late goal from Cobras gun forward Kane Maghamez cut the margin to seven points by the final change.
The game opened up in the final quarter as the Bloods asserted their authority across the ground. Three more unanswered goals from Butcher, Jai Perrett and Pat Mahon stretched the lead to 26 points at the 20-minute mark.
The Cobras fought it out to the bitter end, scoring a couple of goals in the last 10 minutes including one from competition best and fairest winner Adam Baltruweit, who was struggling with a strained quadricep from the preliminary final.
But the Bloods replied with two more majors from Williams to win 14.10 (94) to 10.9 (69). Centreman Morrison-Storey was named best-on-ground for the Bloods while Williams got his third consecutive haul of five goals. Playing coach Naulty was also the dominant on-baller.
Maghamez, Michael Muller and Michael Parkes each kicked two goals for the Cobras.
The premiership capped a successful season for the Bloods.
Naulty was selected as playing captain-coach and one of four Bloods in the Division 4 team of the year.
One of those four, Liam Whelan, finished runner-up in the goalkicking with 52 goals while teammate Pat Mahon, who was selected at full-forward, amassed 51 goals.
The Bloods’ reserves also triumphed on grand final day, defeating the Eley Park Sharks by 50 points to remain unbeaten for the season.
Bloods president Terry McEvoy said the club felt “hard done by” when it was one of three clubs relegated to Division 4 at the end of 2016 in the VAFA’s bid to even each lower section at 10 teams and eliminate a bye.
But he said Naulty’s appointment as playing coach at the start of the season had been the key to the club’s revival.
“He (Naulty) has been crucial – his style, personality, he’s inclusive. This bloke’s done a terrific job bringing the whole club together and he is the leader of the club, not just the coach,” McEvoy said.
The president said Naulty has been reappointed as coach for next season and there was confidence he could take Aquinas back up the grades in coming seasons.
“The premiership is something the club needed, but we want to move up the grades as quickly as possible.”
Aquinas is also planning to field a women’s team in the VAFA next season.
COBRAS HAVE PLENTY TO BE PROUD OF
Manningham Cobras president Noel Bullen said, while it was disappointing not to break the club’s long flag drought, the Cobras was rapt to be promoted to Division 3 after initially struggling to field a senior team.
Bullen said the Cobras had been considering reverting to Club XIII last November because of a lack of senior players. But, after the appointment of coach Frank Salanitri, the club recruited well enough to be more than competitive.
“We have a lot to look forward to next year,” Bullen said. “You go up a division and you become a far more attractive proposition for new players. We will get some guys back who left last year when we were struggling, so I think we will be OK.”
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