By Nick Creely
Beaconsfield’s picturesque Holm Park hosted the South Eastern Womens Football grand finals on Saturday, with three teams lifting the premiership cup aloft after a trio of tense, entertaining deciders.
The big match of the day – the Division 1 grand final between Eastern Devils and Seaford – went down to the wire with a mammoth crowd cheering on every tackle, mark and goal.
The top two sides on the ladder were barely separated at half time, with the Devils scoring four points and holding the Tigers scoreless.
With the pressure high and both teams struggling to find the ball in space, it was anyone’s game at the major break.
Class and goal nous of some of the Devils’ biggest stars saw them kick two goals to one in the third term, and they held a comfortable nine point advantage with a quarter to play.
The Tigers refused to give in and managed to scramble a goal with just three minutes left on the clock, but the Devils held firm and claimed back to back premiership titles, 2.5 (17) to 2.2 (14).
Devils star Olivia Aing was the deserving recipient of the best on ground award for her brilliant performance.
In the Division 2 decider, Bass Coast confirmed themselves as the number one team of the division after comfortably defeating Tyabb, 5.4 (34) to 2.8 (20).
The Breakers maintained a steady lead for most of the day, but got the game winning break in a sublime second quarter that saw them kick two unanswered goals.
For the Yabbies, they certainly had their chances and actually had more scoring shots, but left their run too late after kicking 0.8 in the first three quarters before kicking two last term goals.
Kelly O’Neill put in a tremendous display to be awarded the best afield medal, and was a constant presence for four quarters for the Breakers.
And Pearcedale provided perhaps the biggest shock of the day, claiming the Division 3 title after knocking off the highly fancied Hastings, 3.9 (27) to 3.1 (19).
Incredibly, the Blues were the dominant team of the season and won five more games than the Panthers during the regular season to be undefeated and finished a whopping 22 points clear on the ladder.
But the Panthers rallied late to kick two last quarter goals and claim a memorable win, with Katie Mitchell named best afield after dominating – particularly in the second half when the game was on the line.
