I am new to the Amateurs this year, so it will be a long
time before I have a true appreciation of what St Kevin’s Old Boys Football
Club has achieved in season 2015. I think I’m safe in saying very few teams have had
a season like it. To be so dominant and go undefeated in a season is a rare
enough occurrence; to do so with the added burden of internal and external
expectations stemming from ten years of finals action but no ultimate success
makes it even more extraordinary. Just to put the cherry on top, to be 44
points down in the final game of the year and still come back and win…
I have to say, I’m glad there is no word limit on my Premier B Grand Final review because I honestly couldn’t capture everything that was seen, felt and heard on this day in 1000 lousy words.
Sportscover Arena in Elsternwick was buzzing on a beautiful spring day. SKOBbers of all shapes and sizes had come to see the completion of a history-making 20-0 season while Old Melburnians, riding high after toppling St Bede’s/Mentone with a 73 point turnaround in the Prelim, held hopes of causing a massive upset and joining their Reserves team on the winners podium.
The OMs Ressies won the curtain raiser, ironically against St Bede’s/Mentone, by 40 points after opening with a seven goal to nil opening quarter. Josh Rundell won the best-on-ground medal and Ben Nicholl was named best for the Tigers.
Old Melburnians suffered a blow at the selection table, with Josh Freezer called up to the Essendon VFL team. He was brilliant in the OMs preliminary final victory and in my preview I had highlighted him as a significant piece of the puzzle if they had any chance of snatching a victory.
I parked myself in the grandstand (no press box for me!) and found myself seated behind the wife and some extended family of St Kevin’s president Paul Murphy, and just along from me were a group of OMs supporters. It’s the beauty of the game of footy: we have no need for fences or barriers separating supporters and can enjoy the game without attacking each other. If anything, as a neutral observer squeezed in between supporters of both sides, my location offered me a unique perspective on the match.
The crew from 96.5 Inner FM were on hand to cover the game and it was being live streamed through the VAFA website. Opinion was divided in the commentary box as to how the game would play out. The majority view seemed to be that OMs did well to make it this far but St Kevin’s would get up quite comfortably. On the surface it was hard to argue with this. SKOBs were undefeated all season with an average winning margin of over 70 points. They’d had a week’s rest and won both 2015 contests against OMs by 91 and 86 points.
However, there were a couple of dissenting voices who gave the OMs more of a chance. It was pointed out that while it might have appeared a mismatch on paper, Grand Finals consist of two hours of footy and anything can happen. OMs should have been coming into the game full of confidence in their own ability after toppling the Tigers by seven goals in a 73-point turnaround. They would have also been heartened by the Tigers semi-final performance against St Kevin’s, where they pushed the SKOBs the whole way and were within five points late in the game. Logically, if the Tigers could do it, there was no reason the OMs couldn’t do the same. I picked St Kevin’s to win by five goals.
First Quarter:
Old Melb 4.3-27 (N. De Steiger, A. Armstrong, N. Daish, S. Watson)
St Kevins 3.1-19 (G. Gleeson, J. Gysberts, H. Parkes)
It was clear right from the first bounce that OMs had come to play. Nick Daish got the first centre clearance, straight to George Hurley-Wellington for the first forward thrust. Ted De Fegely had the first shot on goal from the boundary on a tight angle and Nick Voyage missed soon after. Not surprisingly there was a bit of niggle early on, and Steve Salopek was slow to get up after being felled at a stoppage in the middle of the ground.
St Kevins took five minutes to make a meaningful entry inside their forward arc, but when they did they made the most of it. Ben Dowd was in the action early and he got the ball to big man Gerard Gleeson who converted a set shot for the first goal of the game. After the first goal, there was a knowing comment from the behind the microphone “And that’s the first sign of what’s to come in this game.”
There was some confusion about the redhead wearing #94 for Old Melburnians. He turned out to be Justin De Steiger, brother of OMs big man Nick. After Justin was the recipient of a kicking-in-danger free kick, he tumbled a kick forward to the goal square and it fortuitously landed in the arms of the other De Steiger, who kicked the OMs first for the day. There was some musing in the commentary box that that play may have been honed and practised.
One thing that stood out was OM’s pressure all over the ground. Their forwards made it difficult for the SKOBs defenders to get any sort of uncontested possession and this was affecting their decision-making. Stephen Gilham finally got his hands on the ball and marked strongly outside the arc, but failed to convert the set shot. A couple of minutes later the ball came back and Jordan Gysberts had an opportunity for a goal and made no mistake.
The indecision of the St Kevins defence was on display when Zach Ginies went across goal to Charles Ring who sent it down the wing straight to an OMs midfielder. The OMs wasted no time bringing the ball straight back through Tom Paule who went to Gibbons and finished up with a mark to Al Armstrong in the goal square.
Up the other end, the OMs defence were giving the St Kevin’s forwards absolutely nothing. This was best illustrated at the 25-minute mark when a SKOB jumper thought he had found his way through and immediately got unceremoniously dumped by two defenders, including Theo Rosenthal. Nick Daish gave OMs the lead when he ran onto a tap from Justin De Steiger and kicked truly.
St Kevins fought back through Salopek’s creative work at a stoppage. He managed to tap the ball to Ben Dowd, who went for a run and speared a pass to the chest of Henry Parkes. Parkes kicked the set shot through big sticks.
The final goal of the term was the result of an exciting fast-moving passage of play from OMs that almost came unstuck but, as the old saying goes, “when you’re hot, you’re hot.” Lachie Borthwick got the clearance from a throw-in on the SKOB half forward line; Tom Hywood went for a run down the wing, turned a couple of evasive circles and nearly got caught; Tom Paule ran the ball into his forward arc and nearly got caught trying to handball over the top to himself; Paule earned a free kick in the goal square when he was ridden into the turf but Stuart Watson took the advantage and ran into the open goal.
OMs had another couple of forward thrusts before the end of the quarter. A Tom Bachet miskick was marked on the line by Kelvin Williams and the St Kevins defence managed to hold firm under intense pressure to prevent the OMs lead from getting any bigger. When the siren finally sounded to end a frenetic and action-packed first quarter, the crowd was able to take a collective breath and OMs were leading the SKOBs 4.3.27 to 3.1.19.
There was an interesting discussion from the Inner FM team at quarter time. Ken Petruccio declared the wind heading to the golf course end to be worth ‘five or six goals’ and this was met with mirth and mocking from the other commentators:
“It’s not cyclonic, Ken! It’s not a hurricane. Five or six goals? Are you serious?”
“Yes I am serious, it’s worth that much. It blows a lot harder down there than it does up here.”
Ken would be proved right, as Old Melburnians kicked seven goals in the second term and St Kevins replied with 5.8 in the third.
Second Quarter:
Old Melb 11.5.71 (7.2 in 2nd qtr) (Beck 2, Watson 2 De Steiger, Rosenthal, Paule)
St Kevins 5.5.35 (2.4 in 2nd qtr) (B. McCann, K Williams)
The message from the OMs coaches at the break was to keep the pressure and intensity up, and that’s exactly what the players did. Their tackling was ferocious. Cameron Beck wrapped up SKOBs defender William Coates who appeared to throw it away but no free kick was given. Nick De Steiger got one a little later and kicked truly from the resultant free. One of the commentators remarked “It looks as though OMs haven’t touched a ball all week and have just been doing tackling practise!”
The OMs scored three goals in seven minutes through Beck, De Steiger and Watson, to open up a 25 point lead. After the Watson goal an elderly SKOB supporter near me, racked with tension, informed his group “I’m going for a walk,” and off he shuffled.
Up the other end, the goal umpire was not interested in making friends with SKOB Hill. Zach Ginies had a chance on the run but the kick grubbed along the ground and just cleared the line accompanied by tremendous cheers from the St Kevins faithful, but the goal umpire deemed it had just hit the post. I was sitting on the other side of the ground but I dare say the next 25 minutes would not have been fun for him.
The remark was made during commentary that it was good to see St Kevins finally getting challenged and it meant we would get to see how good they really were. Prophetic words indeed.
The next 20 minutes were surely St Kevins worst period of footy for the entire season. Mistakes were common and their decision making and skill execution was poor. They were outmuscled, outplayed and outrun. In the crowd all around me there were sighs, groans, finger-pointing and people covering their eyes. OMs piled on three more goals through Stuart Watson, Theo Rosenthal and Tom Paule. Kelvin Williams, normally a reliable and skilful defender, dropped a couple of simple marks and fumbled under OMs forward pressure. OMs forward George Hurley-Wellington pounced on one of those mistakes at half-forward and sent the ball inside the arc to Watson, who ran into an open goal. St Kevin’s run through the midfield and defensive pressure seemed to have disappeared altogether. Tom Paule’s goal came after a ridiculously easy chain of handballs in the forward arc and at one point SKOB ruckman Dylan Jones marked the ball in the middle of the ground and did two full circles looking for an option running past, but could find nothing.
At the 21 minute mark of the quarter, Old Melburnians led by 44 points. The question was continually asked during commentary “How long can OMs keep this up?” and it was about 24 minutes in that it was observed their intensity started dropping off slightly and St Kevins started making some attacking moves. Phil Edgar and Stephen Gilham both managed behinds and then Brad McCann took a mark inside the arc and kicked truly for SKOBs first goal of the quarter 26 minutes in. Cam Beck quickly replied for OMs but then St Kevins worked the ball forward and found Kelvin Williams who had been moved from the backline and proved his versatility by converting a morale-boosting goal just before the half time siren.
St Kevins might have been six goals down, but no one dared count them out of this game. They would be kicking with the wind in the third quarter and their second halves had been dominant all season. They had proved a lot to everyone during the season, but with one half left on the biggest day of the footy calendar, this was their chance to show just how good the SKOB machine really was.
Third Quarter:
Old Melb 12.5.77 (1.0 in 3rd qtr) (A. Armstrong)
St Kevins 10.13.73 (5.8 in 3rd qtr) (S. Gilham 2, C. Ring, D. Jones, K. Wissell)
St Kevins did all the attacking in the first ten minutes but could only manage five behinds. Williams and Gilham both had chances but were not successful. They paid for this lack of scoreboard pressure when OMs pushed the ball forward and Al Armstrong took a mark in the right forward pocket. He ran around and kicked truly, and it was the OMs only score for the quarter. Gilham earned himself a free kick in front of goal on a slight angle but turned the ball over when he elected to pass off but the kick did not reach his intended target and the OMs rushed it out of bounds to regroup.
Dylan Jones took a big pack mark and converted the goal, starting a run of five SKOB goals to end the quarter. Karl Wissell was next with a clever opportunistic goal from a stoppage in the forward pocket. OMs ruckman De Steiger tapped it straight toward the St Kevin’s goal and for some reason there was nary an OMs defender to be seen on the goal line, making the goal simpler for the SKOB #10. Charles Ring then marked inside 50 but his set shot faded to the left.
Lachie Borthwick tried to make something happen for OMs by taking on everyone in sight down the boundary line; he gained about 30 metres on his own but unfortunately ran out of room. From the stoppage Gerard Gleeson pinched the ball, took a couple of bounces and got the ball to Jordan Gysberts who kicked their third in five minutes. Gilham took advantage of the disorganised OMs defence to take another contested mark and this time he kicked it straight through the middle. When Gilham kicked his second for the quarter at the 29-minute mark the crowd went nuts, the SKOBs were within four points and had all the momentum going into the final quarter of the season.
Fourth Quarter:
St Kevins 13.18.96 (3.5 in 4th qtr) (P. Edgar, S. Gilham, Z. Ginies)
Old Melburnians 13.7.85 (1.2 in 4th qtr) (T. De Fegely)
Regardless of where the momentum was or what the feeling was around the ground, OMs were determined not to go down without a fight. They still had the lead and were kicking with the wind in the last quarter. Ted De Fegely kicked the first for the OMs to put them 10 points clear. Stuart Watson dashed away from half back, took three bounces and had a chance for another one, but his kick on the run dropped short and it was marked in the square by William Coates.
The longer the quarter went, the tempo, pressure and intensity lifted, which was exacerbated by long periods with no score from either team. Every possession was earned. SKOB Callum Matheson missed a quick snap from a stoppage and five minutes later up the other end of the ground Rosenthal’s quick kick was touched off the boot. Edgar and Gilham also missed shots as SKOBs edged closer but still trailed. Finally, at the 18 minute mark St Kevins received a free kick inside 50 and Phil Edgar took the advantage and ran into the open goal, which brought the SKOBs within two points of the lead.
The pressure was getting to everyone, even the very best, as GT Moore medal runner-up Steven Salopek took a contested mark but missed a very gettable set shot. Stephen Gilham was paid a mark in front of goal but it was debatable whether he had enough of it (OMs certainly didn’t think so). Regardless, he went back and slotted the goal, putting the SKOBs in the lead for the first time since the start of the match.
Nick Daish took a mark up the other end but his set shot faded right. Henry Parkes took a nice mark on the lead near goal but failed to put it through, giving OMs one last chance to make a forward thrust. SKOBs put enough pressure on and forced the ball back in their half of the ground and it was left to Zach Ginies to kick the sealing goal.
As it turned out, after the Ginies goal at the 27 minute mark there was only 20 seconds remaining. I had this great plan to get the last couple of minutes on video and capture all the reactions. So I stood up and got my phone out and before I had a chance to record anything, the siren rang and SKOB Hill streamed onto the ground, embracing their players in all the euphoria and emotions of victory.
It was a famous victory, capping off an incredible 20-0 season and well and truly getting the September “monkey-off-the-back” which has plagued St Kevins for the last ten years; so often being part of the finals action but unable to take that next step up to the Premier division.
Being a neutral observer out in the middle of premiership celebrations is an odd, but at the same time heartwarming, feeling. SKOBs coach Daniel Harford was overwhelmed with emotion and I was able to capture a nice post-match moment between he and his Old Melburnians counterpart Nathan Brown, who no doubt would have been feeling shattered but was magnanimous in defeat.
Stephen Gilham was awarded the Ian Cordner medal for best-on-ground (presented by the man himself). He kicked 3.5 and was always a dangerous prospect for the OMs defence. St Kevins president Paul Murphy had the job of handing out the premiership medals and it was especially poignant that the first player up on the podium was his son Matthew.
I thought it was a nice touch that three other players who weren’t part of the premiership 22 due to injury, but still played significant roles in the SKOB campaign during the season, were also acknowledged with medals: Ben Sullivan, Billy Kanakis and Chris Gleeson.
I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to cover Premier B this year. It was an enjoyable, high quality competition which always threw up its share of surprises each week, and this Grand Final was the cherry on top.
Next season we say farewell to St Kevins and Old Melburnians (Premier), Mazenod and Caulfield (Premier C) and welcome Old Scotch and Beaumaris down from Premier and Old Haileybury and Monash Blues up from Premier C.
I have to say, I’m glad there is no word limit on my Premier B Grand Final review because I honestly couldn’t capture everything that was seen, felt and heard on this day in 1000 lousy words.
Sportscover Arena in Elsternwick was buzzing on a beautiful spring day. SKOBbers of all shapes and sizes had come to see the completion of a history-making 20-0 season while Old Melburnians, riding high after toppling St Bede’s/Mentone with a 73 point turnaround in the Prelim, held hopes of causing a massive upset and joining their Reserves team on the winners podium.
The OMs Ressies won the curtain raiser, ironically against St Bede’s/Mentone, by 40 points after opening with a seven goal to nil opening quarter. Josh Rundell won the best-on-ground medal and Ben Nicholl was named best for the Tigers.
Old Melburnians suffered a blow at the selection table, with Josh Freezer called up to the Essendon VFL team. He was brilliant in the OMs preliminary final victory and in my preview I had highlighted him as a significant piece of the puzzle if they had any chance of snatching a victory.
I parked myself in the grandstand (no press box for me!) and found myself seated behind the wife and some extended family of St Kevin’s president Paul Murphy, and just along from me were a group of OMs supporters. It’s the beauty of the game of footy: we have no need for fences or barriers separating supporters and can enjoy the game without attacking each other. If anything, as a neutral observer squeezed in between supporters of both sides, my location offered me a unique perspective on the match.
The crew from 96.5 Inner FM were on hand to cover the game and it was being live streamed through the VAFA website. Opinion was divided in the commentary box as to how the game would play out. The majority view seemed to be that OMs did well to make it this far but St Kevin’s would get up quite comfortably. On the surface it was hard to argue with this. SKOBs were undefeated all season with an average winning margin of over 70 points. They’d had a week’s rest and won both 2015 contests against OMs by 91 and 86 points.
However, there were a couple of dissenting voices who gave the OMs more of a chance. It was pointed out that while it might have appeared a mismatch on paper, Grand Finals consist of two hours of footy and anything can happen. OMs should have been coming into the game full of confidence in their own ability after toppling the Tigers by seven goals in a 73-point turnaround. They would have also been heartened by the Tigers semi-final performance against St Kevin’s, where they pushed the SKOBs the whole way and were within five points late in the game. Logically, if the Tigers could do it, there was no reason the OMs couldn’t do the same. I picked St Kevin’s to win by five goals.
First Quarter:
Old Melb 4.3-27 (N. De Steiger, A. Armstrong, N. Daish, S. Watson)
St Kevins 3.1-19 (G. Gleeson, J. Gysberts, H. Parkes)
It was clear right from the first bounce that OMs had come to play. Nick Daish got the first centre clearance, straight to George Hurley-Wellington for the first forward thrust. Ted De Fegely had the first shot on goal from the boundary on a tight angle and Nick Voyage missed soon after. Not surprisingly there was a bit of niggle early on, and Steve Salopek was slow to get up after being felled at a stoppage in the middle of the ground.
St Kevins took five minutes to make a meaningful entry inside their forward arc, but when they did they made the most of it. Ben Dowd was in the action early and he got the ball to big man Gerard Gleeson who converted a set shot for the first goal of the game. After the first goal, there was a knowing comment from the behind the microphone “And that’s the first sign of what’s to come in this game.”
There was some confusion about the redhead wearing #94 for Old Melburnians. He turned out to be Justin De Steiger, brother of OMs big man Nick. After Justin was the recipient of a kicking-in-danger free kick, he tumbled a kick forward to the goal square and it fortuitously landed in the arms of the other De Steiger, who kicked the OMs first for the day. There was some musing in the commentary box that that play may have been honed and practised.
One thing that stood out was OM’s pressure all over the ground. Their forwards made it difficult for the SKOBs defenders to get any sort of uncontested possession and this was affecting their decision-making. Stephen Gilham finally got his hands on the ball and marked strongly outside the arc, but failed to convert the set shot. A couple of minutes later the ball came back and Jordan Gysberts had an opportunity for a goal and made no mistake.
The indecision of the St Kevins defence was on display when Zach Ginies went across goal to Charles Ring who sent it down the wing straight to an OMs midfielder. The OMs wasted no time bringing the ball straight back through Tom Paule who went to Gibbons and finished up with a mark to Al Armstrong in the goal square.
Up the other end, the OMs defence were giving the St Kevin’s forwards absolutely nothing. This was best illustrated at the 25-minute mark when a SKOB jumper thought he had found his way through and immediately got unceremoniously dumped by two defenders, including Theo Rosenthal. Nick Daish gave OMs the lead when he ran onto a tap from Justin De Steiger and kicked truly.
St Kevins fought back through Salopek’s creative work at a stoppage. He managed to tap the ball to Ben Dowd, who went for a run and speared a pass to the chest of Henry Parkes. Parkes kicked the set shot through big sticks.
The final goal of the term was the result of an exciting fast-moving passage of play from OMs that almost came unstuck but, as the old saying goes, “when you’re hot, you’re hot.” Lachie Borthwick got the clearance from a throw-in on the SKOB half forward line; Tom Hywood went for a run down the wing, turned a couple of evasive circles and nearly got caught; Tom Paule ran the ball into his forward arc and nearly got caught trying to handball over the top to himself; Paule earned a free kick in the goal square when he was ridden into the turf but Stuart Watson took the advantage and ran into the open goal.
OMs had another couple of forward thrusts before the end of the quarter. A Tom Bachet miskick was marked on the line by Kelvin Williams and the St Kevins defence managed to hold firm under intense pressure to prevent the OMs lead from getting any bigger. When the siren finally sounded to end a frenetic and action-packed first quarter, the crowd was able to take a collective breath and OMs were leading the SKOBs 4.3.27 to 3.1.19.
There was an interesting discussion from the Inner FM team at quarter time. Ken Petruccio declared the wind heading to the golf course end to be worth ‘five or six goals’ and this was met with mirth and mocking from the other commentators:
“It’s not cyclonic, Ken! It’s not a hurricane. Five or six goals? Are you serious?”
“Yes I am serious, it’s worth that much. It blows a lot harder down there than it does up here.”
Ken would be proved right, as Old Melburnians kicked seven goals in the second term and St Kevins replied with 5.8 in the third.
Second Quarter:
Old Melb 11.5.71 (7.2 in 2nd qtr) (Beck 2, Watson 2 De Steiger, Rosenthal, Paule)
St Kevins 5.5.35 (2.4 in 2nd qtr) (B. McCann, K Williams)
The message from the OMs coaches at the break was to keep the pressure and intensity up, and that’s exactly what the players did. Their tackling was ferocious. Cameron Beck wrapped up SKOBs defender William Coates who appeared to throw it away but no free kick was given. Nick De Steiger got one a little later and kicked truly from the resultant free. One of the commentators remarked “It looks as though OMs haven’t touched a ball all week and have just been doing tackling practise!”
The OMs scored three goals in seven minutes through Beck, De Steiger and Watson, to open up a 25 point lead. After the Watson goal an elderly SKOB supporter near me, racked with tension, informed his group “I’m going for a walk,” and off he shuffled.
Up the other end, the goal umpire was not interested in making friends with SKOB Hill. Zach Ginies had a chance on the run but the kick grubbed along the ground and just cleared the line accompanied by tremendous cheers from the St Kevins faithful, but the goal umpire deemed it had just hit the post. I was sitting on the other side of the ground but I dare say the next 25 minutes would not have been fun for him.
The remark was made during commentary that it was good to see St Kevins finally getting challenged and it meant we would get to see how good they really were. Prophetic words indeed.
The next 20 minutes were surely St Kevins worst period of footy for the entire season. Mistakes were common and their decision making and skill execution was poor. They were outmuscled, outplayed and outrun. In the crowd all around me there were sighs, groans, finger-pointing and people covering their eyes. OMs piled on three more goals through Stuart Watson, Theo Rosenthal and Tom Paule. Kelvin Williams, normally a reliable and skilful defender, dropped a couple of simple marks and fumbled under OMs forward pressure. OMs forward George Hurley-Wellington pounced on one of those mistakes at half-forward and sent the ball inside the arc to Watson, who ran into an open goal. St Kevin’s run through the midfield and defensive pressure seemed to have disappeared altogether. Tom Paule’s goal came after a ridiculously easy chain of handballs in the forward arc and at one point SKOB ruckman Dylan Jones marked the ball in the middle of the ground and did two full circles looking for an option running past, but could find nothing.
At the 21 minute mark of the quarter, Old Melburnians led by 44 points. The question was continually asked during commentary “How long can OMs keep this up?” and it was about 24 minutes in that it was observed their intensity started dropping off slightly and St Kevins started making some attacking moves. Phil Edgar and Stephen Gilham both managed behinds and then Brad McCann took a mark inside the arc and kicked truly for SKOBs first goal of the quarter 26 minutes in. Cam Beck quickly replied for OMs but then St Kevins worked the ball forward and found Kelvin Williams who had been moved from the backline and proved his versatility by converting a morale-boosting goal just before the half time siren.
St Kevins might have been six goals down, but no one dared count them out of this game. They would be kicking with the wind in the third quarter and their second halves had been dominant all season. They had proved a lot to everyone during the season, but with one half left on the biggest day of the footy calendar, this was their chance to show just how good the SKOB machine really was.
Third Quarter:
Old Melb 12.5.77 (1.0 in 3rd qtr) (A. Armstrong)
St Kevins 10.13.73 (5.8 in 3rd qtr) (S. Gilham 2, C. Ring, D. Jones, K. Wissell)
St Kevins did all the attacking in the first ten minutes but could only manage five behinds. Williams and Gilham both had chances but were not successful. They paid for this lack of scoreboard pressure when OMs pushed the ball forward and Al Armstrong took a mark in the right forward pocket. He ran around and kicked truly, and it was the OMs only score for the quarter. Gilham earned himself a free kick in front of goal on a slight angle but turned the ball over when he elected to pass off but the kick did not reach his intended target and the OMs rushed it out of bounds to regroup.
Dylan Jones took a big pack mark and converted the goal, starting a run of five SKOB goals to end the quarter. Karl Wissell was next with a clever opportunistic goal from a stoppage in the forward pocket. OMs ruckman De Steiger tapped it straight toward the St Kevin’s goal and for some reason there was nary an OMs defender to be seen on the goal line, making the goal simpler for the SKOB #10. Charles Ring then marked inside 50 but his set shot faded to the left.
Lachie Borthwick tried to make something happen for OMs by taking on everyone in sight down the boundary line; he gained about 30 metres on his own but unfortunately ran out of room. From the stoppage Gerard Gleeson pinched the ball, took a couple of bounces and got the ball to Jordan Gysberts who kicked their third in five minutes. Gilham took advantage of the disorganised OMs defence to take another contested mark and this time he kicked it straight through the middle. When Gilham kicked his second for the quarter at the 29-minute mark the crowd went nuts, the SKOBs were within four points and had all the momentum going into the final quarter of the season.
Fourth Quarter:
St Kevins 13.18.96 (3.5 in 4th qtr) (P. Edgar, S. Gilham, Z. Ginies)
Old Melburnians 13.7.85 (1.2 in 4th qtr) (T. De Fegely)
Regardless of where the momentum was or what the feeling was around the ground, OMs were determined not to go down without a fight. They still had the lead and were kicking with the wind in the last quarter. Ted De Fegely kicked the first for the OMs to put them 10 points clear. Stuart Watson dashed away from half back, took three bounces and had a chance for another one, but his kick on the run dropped short and it was marked in the square by William Coates.
The longer the quarter went, the tempo, pressure and intensity lifted, which was exacerbated by long periods with no score from either team. Every possession was earned. SKOB Callum Matheson missed a quick snap from a stoppage and five minutes later up the other end of the ground Rosenthal’s quick kick was touched off the boot. Edgar and Gilham also missed shots as SKOBs edged closer but still trailed. Finally, at the 18 minute mark St Kevins received a free kick inside 50 and Phil Edgar took the advantage and ran into the open goal, which brought the SKOBs within two points of the lead.
The pressure was getting to everyone, even the very best, as GT Moore medal runner-up Steven Salopek took a contested mark but missed a very gettable set shot. Stephen Gilham was paid a mark in front of goal but it was debatable whether he had enough of it (OMs certainly didn’t think so). Regardless, he went back and slotted the goal, putting the SKOBs in the lead for the first time since the start of the match.
Nick Daish took a mark up the other end but his set shot faded right. Henry Parkes took a nice mark on the lead near goal but failed to put it through, giving OMs one last chance to make a forward thrust. SKOBs put enough pressure on and forced the ball back in their half of the ground and it was left to Zach Ginies to kick the sealing goal.
As it turned out, after the Ginies goal at the 27 minute mark there was only 20 seconds remaining. I had this great plan to get the last couple of minutes on video and capture all the reactions. So I stood up and got my phone out and before I had a chance to record anything, the siren rang and SKOB Hill streamed onto the ground, embracing their players in all the euphoria and emotions of victory.
It was a famous victory, capping off an incredible 20-0 season and well and truly getting the September “monkey-off-the-back” which has plagued St Kevins for the last ten years; so often being part of the finals action but unable to take that next step up to the Premier division.
Being a neutral observer out in the middle of premiership celebrations is an odd, but at the same time heartwarming, feeling. SKOBs coach Daniel Harford was overwhelmed with emotion and I was able to capture a nice post-match moment between he and his Old Melburnians counterpart Nathan Brown, who no doubt would have been feeling shattered but was magnanimous in defeat.
Stephen Gilham was awarded the Ian Cordner medal for best-on-ground (presented by the man himself). He kicked 3.5 and was always a dangerous prospect for the OMs defence. St Kevins president Paul Murphy had the job of handing out the premiership medals and it was especially poignant that the first player up on the podium was his son Matthew.
I thought it was a nice touch that three other players who weren’t part of the premiership 22 due to injury, but still played significant roles in the SKOB campaign during the season, were also acknowledged with medals: Ben Sullivan, Billy Kanakis and Chris Gleeson.
I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to cover Premier B this year. It was an enjoyable, high quality competition which always threw up its share of surprises each week, and this Grand Final was the cherry on top.
Next season we say farewell to St Kevins and Old Melburnians (Premier), Mazenod and Caulfield (Premier C) and welcome Old Scotch and Beaumaris down from Premier and Old Haileybury and Monash Blues up from Premier C.
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| 2nd quarter... |
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| Half time... |
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| The SKOB Comeback...Three Quarter Time |
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| They've done it! Victory to St Kevins |
