St Bede’s defeats St Patrick’s to win its first Herald Sun Shield
Footballers from St Bede’s College Mentone have sealed their superb season by winning the prestigious school football competition for the first time.
South East
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The St Bede’s College players were aware the school had never won a Herald Sun Shield.
Ahead of the grand final, they knew history was there for the taking.
Now it’s in the books. St Bede’s joined a fabulous roll-call of winners of the annual school football competition when it defeated St Patrick’s Ballarat 5.10 (40) to 3.10 (28) at Sandringham’s Trevor Barker Oval.
“A terrific result for a really tight and talented bunch of boys,’’ coach Owen Lalor said of the August 7 win.
“We’re really proud of what they’ve been able to achieve.’’
St Bede’s qualified for the Herald Sun Shield by winning the ACC (Associated Catholic Colleges) premiership, defeating Whitefriars in the grand final.
It easily defeated Aquinas in the Shield semi-finals, putting it up against eight-time winner St Patrick’s in the decider.
Lalor said the match was a “tough arm-wrestle’’. It went the way of St Bede’s, whose team featured 14 players linked with NAB League club Sandringham Dragons.
Miles Bergman won the Neale Daniher Medal as best-afield, shading back flankers Lachie Lamble and Nick Grech, who was captain.
Dragons skipper Ryan Byrnes and Blake O’Leary also played well.
Lalor described Lamble as a “running-bounce machine’’ and “very exciting player’’.
The Herald Sun Shield started in 1977 and Lalor can remember when matches were replayed on television on weekends.
He said the competition had great history and the players were aware of it and the fact that St Bede’s had never won the Shield.
“We sold a lot of that, and they were really determined to make it a first,’’ Lalor said.
For Kyle Yorke, it was family history repeating: his father played in the second Herald Sun Shield, helping Moorabbin Tech to the title.
Lalor, the coach of VAFA Premier B club Parkdale Vultures, was assisted by school colleagues Sammy Radford, the coach of VFL club Casey Demons, and Guy Martyn, the coach of VAFA Premier club St Kevin’s.
Lalor said the team received tremendous support from principal John Finn and the rest of the school community.
A number of old boys watched matches this year.
St Bede’s squad
Nicholas Grech, Luke Garnaut, Cameron Blitsas, Michael Lewis, Lachlan Lamble, Liam Hayes, Joshua Miller, Blake O’Leary, Austin Johnson, George Grey, Charlie Yee, David Goodman, Noah Beveridge, Kyle Yorke, Liam Segar, Andrew Courtney, Mitchell Tsiros, Nathan Bazzani, Lachlan Carrigan, Harry Kilfoyle, Marcus White, Cameron Taylor, Jake Kovacic, Ryan Byrnes, Miles Bergman, Riley Mihailovic, Marcus Windhager, Colby Nayna, Matt Casaceli.