Watsonia to face Epping in Northern Football League Division 3 grand final
WATSONIA will look to end a 29-year premiership drought when it faces Epping in this weekend’s Northern Football League Division 3 grand final.
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WATSONIA will look to end a 29-year premiership drought when it faces Epping in this weekend’s Northern Football League Division 3 grand final.
The Saints bounced back from a disappointing semi-final loss against Epping to score a 12-point win over South Morang — the Lions third straight preliminary final loss — on Saturday.
The win sets up a rematch between Watsonia and Epping, who are gunning for their second flag in five years.
Watsonia has never won an NFL premiership, with its last flag coming back in 1987 in the Diamond Valley Football League.
“I thought we had control, or had more of the ball in our forward half than them, so I thought it was a matter of time until we finished off our hard work,” Watsonia coach Corey McCall said.
“My team, I believe, deserves a spot in the grand final after the season they had.
“You don’t always get what you deserve in footy, but we now find the best two teams in the grand final, in my book.
“Making the grand final is an achievement in itself, there is no doubt about that, but now it comes down to one game on one day.”
South Morang peppered the goals in the opening term with the aid of a breeze, but failed to take a stranglehold on the game after booting 2.7 to 2.1.
The Lions found their radar in the second quarter, but Watsonia put 3.4 on the board to take a three-point lead into halftime.
The arm wrestle continued after the main break, the Saints holding a four-point advantage heading into the final term.
South Morang was denied the opening goal of the quarter after a free kick was paid for a throw in the lead-up, robbing the Lions of momentum.
Watsonia held its nerve and recorded the only major of the last quarter to seal its passage to the grand final and move closer to a drought-breaking NFL flag.
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