Another one bites the dust: Jack Elliott’s 23rd goal of the season came amid a puff of dust as he soccered the ball through from the goalsquare and celebrated Lancaster’s early domination against Murchison-Toolamba. Elliott kicked a bag of 10 earlier in the season and followed up last year’s senior grand final medal with a reserve grade one to match in 2023.
Toe to toe: Combative Lancaster defender Caylan Goring was not prepared to take a backward step against Murchison on Saturday. He was among the best players on the ground and part of a defence that allwed Murchison just one scoring shot in the first half.
Two contrasting styles of football made for a highly physical and regularly spiteful Kyabram district league reserve grade grand final between Lancaster and Murchison-Toolamba.
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But, at the final siren, it was back-to-back titles for a bruised and battered Lancaster — a hard-fought 61-point win, making it 18 straight wins for the season.
While Lancaster’s single focus was on the football, the clear underdog decided to implement whatever tactics it could to upset a well-drilled and highly skilful team from continuing its season-long domination.
Lancaster had won all of its 16 home and away games and, in the qualifying second semi-final at Stanhope two weeks earlier, had beaten Murchison-Toolamba by 58 points.
During the season, the Wombats had beaten its grand final opponent by 124 points, not allowing Murchison-Toolamba to score, in securing one of its 13 100-point plus wins of the season.
Lancaster went into the game a raging favourite and while history is littered with examples of unbeaten teams coming unstuck on grand final day there was no such expectation at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
The Wombats had to look no further than 2022 for an example of such a scenario.
Avenel was unbeaten last year when it played Lancaster in the grand final.
The Wombats had finished the season fifth on the ladder but led from start to finish for a 44-point win.
They completed back-to-back victories at Mooroopna on Saturday, as most expected.
Those expectations did not, however, make the four-quarter bout — which saw umpires send two Murchison-Toolama players off the ground — any easier for the Wombats.
They were constantly challenged physically but never faltered and remained focussed on the task at hand — resulting in a 61-point win, 11.14 (80) to 3.1 (19).
Murchison-Toolamba did kick the first goal of the grand final, ironically its only score of the first half, when Lancaster missed four shots on goal in a typically fast start to the match.
At the first break the Wombats led by just 12 points, having had eight scoring shots to one.
That margin was extended to 30 points with Murchison-Toolamba held scoreless in the second term.
Unusually it was Lancaster’s defence, not the forward line that had kicked scores of 199, 239 and 250 points during the season, that did its best work on the big stage.
Best on ground Oliver McAuliffe was the stand out of a defence that featured full back Joe Jackson, last year’s grand final best on ground Daniel Foley, the dogged Caylan Goring and Robert Salter.
Trent McNamara was also cast in a defensive role for a period of the game, given the assignment of stemming the activity of Murchison-Toolamba’s best player Luke Cecchin.
Lancaster captain Steve Grima and vice-captain Dean Moore started the game on the interchange, an indication of just how strong the Wombats team was for the grand final.
Ian Shiner medallist: Avenel legend Ian Shiner (right) presents Oliver McAuliffe with the medal named in his honour for the best player on the ground in the Kyabram District League reserves grand final.
The forward line featured regular senior forward Jamie Scapin in the goalsquare, alongside athletic Northcote Park recruit Koden Colman and last season’s season premiership player Jack Elliott at centre-half-forward.
Another regular senior player from last season, Tim Strapp, combined with that trio and the enigmatic Steve Phillips to kick a winning score.
RIley O’Neill, who played every game in the senior last year before being dropped to the reserves for the grand final, was also among the forward options for Lancaster.
All six of those players kicked goals — Colman with three and Grima and Scapin two apiece — as the Lancaster team was forced to unusually scrap together a winning score.
Murchison rarely went inside its forward 50 in the first half and, by three-quarter-time, had managed just three scoring shots — all goals — to trail by 46 points with 16 players on the field to end the third term.
It added only one further behind to the score, despite the work of ruckman Timothy Ewert against the Lancaster duo of Sam Jackson and undersized ruckman Jarem Owen-Horn.
Classy forward Zaid Besim, who played in last season’s senior premiership team, was regularly the target of early physical attention.
He and another smooth moving mid-fielder, Luke Donnell, did manage to conquer the tactics and play their part in the victory.
Charles Lowe also played his part in offering resistance to the aggressive nature of Murchison-Toolamba’s attack on the ball-focussed Wombats.
Coach Michael Mott was clearly proud of his player’s discipline and determination when he took possession of the premiership cup following the bruising encounter.
He watched on as Oliver McAuliffe was presented with his best on ground medal by league legend Ian Shiner and held one side of the cup as leading goalkicking Grima raised both hands skyward for a second successive season.
High flyer: Tim Strapp rises to take a spectacular mark over his Murchison opponent and was one of seven goal kickers for the Wombats.
Three goal final: Northcote Park recruit Koden Colman takes a strong mark, which led to the second of his three goals. He recovered from an ACL tear early in the season to return and play a part in the reserves grand final win.
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