Tara Murray
Footscray had to dig deep to come away with the Lacrosse Victoria men’s state league championship on Saturday.
Facing local rival Williamstown, Footscray trailed by five goals early in the piece with things not quite going to plan.
They were able to turn it around and trail by three goals at half time. The margin was back to one goal at three quarter time.
Both teams would have their chances in the last quarter, but Footscray did enough to claim the title 15-13.
Footscray president Tim Lane said they always backed themselves in, even when they were trailing early on.
“We know that Williamstown would always have a really strong team and would throw everything at us,” he said.
“They got up to five goals ahead at one stage. We stayed composed and pegged it back. We always knew we would keep pushing.
“We kept working on what we had been trying to work on all year and that got us into the grand final.”
Footscray hit the front early in the last quarter, before Williamstown pegged one back. Footscray was able to respond to ensure the win.
Daniel Reaume scored seven times in the win.
Tate Gallagher was named best on ground for his performance.
“He is one of the guys we got across from America,” Lane said. “He had a phenomenal game in the midfield and his defence was great.
“He built a lot of our running with the ball when we turned it over.”
Lane said there was a massive crowd at the ground, whose support was helpful in getting them over the line.
It was a big day for Footscray, with not one but three premierships.
Footscray’s division 2 men’s team beat Camberwell 8-7 in the grand final, winning in overtime.
The same two teams faced off in the under-16 boys grand final, with Footscray winning 9-6.
It caps off a massive season for Footscray.
Its women’s side had already won the women’s state league premiership, while the under-18s girls claimed a premiership earlier this month.
Lane said the premierships were a result of a lot of hard work.
“It’s been a pretty successful year,” he said. “A lot of people at the club worked pretty hard to get the teams back together,
“It certainly wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility with how hard people work at the club. We’ll try and do it again next year.”
Tara Murray
