2016 GRAND FINAL V ST BEDES/MENTONE
| Teams | 1st Q. | 2nd Q. | 3rd Q. | 4th Q. |
| Beaumaris | 3.3:21 | 3.5:23 | 9.14:68 | 14.17:101 |
| St Bedes/Mentone | 1.2:8 | 5.7:37 | 6.9:45 | 10.10:70 |
| Goalkickers : Adam Schneider 3, Daniel Gribbin 3, Stephen Milne 2, Josh Ward 2, Drew Kelly 2, Scott Braithwaite 1, Nick Dickinson 1. | ||||
| No | Player | No | Player | No | Player | No | Player |
| 3 | Matt Petering | 7 | Tom Dean | 8 | Josh Ward | 11 | Scott Braithwaite |
| 12 | Scott Gower | 13 | Will Murton | 14 | Adam Schneider | 15 | Lachlan Boyd |
| 16 | Sam McBain | 17 | Anthony Carroll | 18 | Will Edmonds | 19 | Joel Di Natale |
| 23 | Ben McLean | 25 | Daniel Gribbin | 28 | Jack Gabron-Uhe | 32 | Dylan Gabron-Uhe |
| 33 | Stephen Milne | 35 | Luke Globan | 37 | Liam Hiscock | 45 | Drew Kelly |
| 55 | Will Gillespie | 56 | Nick Dickinson |
 |
Click on the icon to view the highlights. |
"Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else."
Vince Lombardi.
It all came down to this Saturday 17th September 2016, 2.15pm at Trevor Barker Oval between the two teams that finished top of the Premier B ladder at the end of the Home and Away season. A local derby with a crowd estimated at between 4 and 5 thousand fans. Does it get any better than this? Well actually it does, there will always be one thing that will top it. But first, onto the game.
In our previous encounters it was 2 to 1 in St.Bedes' favour;
Rd 4 - Beaumaris 13-17-95 defeated St.Bedes/Mentone 8-11-59 (36 point margin)
Rd 11 - St.Bedes/Mentone 15-7-97 defeated Beaumaris 15-6-96 (1 point margin)
2nd Semi Final- Beaumaris 9-11-65 defeated by St.Bedes/Mentone 14-8-92 (27 point margin)
Dean won the toss of the coin and elected to kick to the 'Nick Sautner' end of the ground with the aid of a 2 to 3 goal wind. St. Bedes won the initial clearance out of the middle and went inside their 50 twice in the first 30 seconds of the game when Dean took the steadying mark at half back. He found Di Natale who in turn passed to Boyd on the wing. Boyd kicked long to just outside our goal square. A dropped mark from St Bedes allowed Carroll to collect the ball and, spinning towards goal, he found Schneider with a long handball. Schneider kicked truly and we had our first goal from our first entry inside the forward 50 and it was just over a minute into the quarter. This was the start we needed. Four minutes later we had our second when Kelly won a holding the ball decision and thanks to a lapse in concentration from the St. Bedes defenders, Gribbin found himself alone in the goal square. A quick pass from Kelly to Gribbin allowed the easiest of goals. The game started to settle and for the next 8 minutes it was a dour struggle with neither side able to score goals. Finally St. Bedes' Uthayakumar (#55) was on the end of a passage of play where St. Bedes controlled the ball from the wing and they had their first goal of the game. After 13 minutes of play with the aid of the wind we only had a 7 point lead. Several minutes later Edmonds passed to Milne just inside the arc and we had our third for the quarter. Dean was busy picking up 11 disposals while Petering and Braithwaite each had 7. We went to the first change leading 3-3-21 to 1-2-8.
The second quarter was going to show just what advantage the wind was and had we taken full advantage of it. A free kick at half back to St.Bedes' Smout (#21) enabled him to pass to Robertson (#5) and St Bedes had their second goal for the game just 4 minutes into the quarter. As they have all season our back six were holding steady. Gillespie, McLean, Jack Gabron-Uhe, Gower, Murton and Dean weren't necessarily getting a lot of possessions but that often doesn't represent the amount of work they do that certainly doesn't register on the stats sheet. Likewise our wingmen in Globan and Edmonds. For the next quarter hour neither team was able to score goals. In that time we only managed 2 behinds while St. Bedes added 4 behinds. A clumsy tackle at the edge of the centre square on St.Bedes' Holden (#4) gave him the chance to find Barnes (#7) and St.Bedes had their second for the quarter and they now led by a point. Just over a minute later, from a ball up about 25 metres from St Bedes goal, Denton (#44) was able to weave his way through some heavy traffic and kick another goal for St Bedes. They now led by 7 points. From the subsequent centre ball up, St. Bedes got a 'holding the ball' decision and were quickly back into attack. St. Bedes capitalised from a couple of wayward Shark handballs which resulted in Cowan (#10) marking and kicking truly from 30 metres out. In the space of 3 minutes St. Bedes had kicked 3 goals and they now led by 13 points deep into the second quarter. Another opposition behind saw us at the half time break trailing 5-7-37 to 3-5-23 and we'd had a rare goal-less quarter. Petering was tireless with 9 disposals for the quarter and McBain had 7.
It is well known that the third quarter is the 'Premiership Quarter' because this is the time when games are most often won and lost. We had the wind for a second time but we also had a 14 point deficit. The first 5 minutes were tight with just one behind being added to our score. Then Ward broke through the lines and after 2 wobbly bounces he kicked our first for the quarter. A few minutes later St. Bedes answered with a goal into the wind through Uthayakumar (#55). Soon after that Hiscock driftied down from the backline and sent a ball long and high to our goal line. Standing tall in the middle of the pack was Dickinson who marked just inside the edge of the goal square and we had our second but still trailed by 6 points 12 minutes into the quarter. Just 90 seconds later the game changed dramatically. A boundary throw-in just in front of our coach's box saw a pack about to form before Carroll, lying on his back, sent a handball into the air which allowed Dean to knock the ball forward. Kelly intercepted that knock-on just ahead of St.Bedes' Mirans (#53). Kelly continued forward and kicked truly from about 40 metres out. We had our third for the quarter and the scores were now tied. At the next ball-up Carroll won the tap and some lightning handballs in close from Edmonds, Dean and then Petering eventually found Murton. He pumped the ball deep into our forward where a ball-up was forced. Dylan Gabron-Uhe, was the 'third man up' and Kelly the nominated 'go to man'. The play was executed almost flawlessly with Kelly running onto Gabron-Uhes tap and into an open goal for his second in just over a minute. We now led by 6 points. The game had turned and with goals to Schneider and Gribbin to round out the quarter we led by 23 points. Petering finished the 3rd quarter with another 12 disposals, Edmonds had 8 with Hiscock and Kelly 6 each. At the final change we led 9-14-68 to 6-9-45. Of course everyone's thoughts were - was the lead going to be enough?
It was the Grand Final and obviously St. Bedes weren't going to just give up. Within 90 seconds of the quarter starting they had their first goal though Richards (#11). But, we hit back strongly with back to back goals to Braithwaite and then Gribbin. St. Bedes still weren't going away, and just 44 seconds after Gribbin's goal they replied with a goal from Tyquin (#12). However, we answered that just 90 seconds later when Ward read the ball off the pack at a boundary throw-in and kicked his second for the game. The lead was out to 29 points. While there was still plenty of time remaining 'the sting' had gone out of the game. As the clock wound down St. Bedes kicked two more goals as did we, with late goals to Schneider and Milne. In the end we ran out winners 14-17-101 to 10-10-70.
As with any Premiership team there will always be players that miss out for various reasons. We should all spare a thought for Cal Buckley (injured in Rnd.18), Steven Scott and Rob Cathcart (both injured in the Preliminary Final) who, as a result of their injuries, missed out on getting to the 'big dance'. While it is certainly a great game it can also, just as certainly, be a cruel game.
The season is now 'done and dusted' with two Premiership Cups added to the trophy cabinet. We now count down to the start of the next season and the step back up to Premier A. It will be a long and hot summer with, I'm sure, many repeated viewings of the Grand Final.
Till next season, as always, don't you just love the footy.
Go sharks.
