YARRAVILLE-SEDDON is flying high after achieving perfection in the Western Region Football League division 2.
The Eagles were invincible this season, winning all 16 home-and-away games, a semi-final and a grand final.
“I’m just so proud of the group,” Eagles coach David Connell told the Weekly, “so proud of what we’ve achieved this year.”
The Eagles had to overcome a spirited Parkside in Sunday’s grand final at Avalon Airport Oval to accomplish their mission.
The winning margin of 28 points didn’t truly reflect the edge-of-your-seat tension Eagles’ fans had to endure for 120 minutes.
The pressure on Connell, with his side the unbackable favourite and staring at a shock four-goal deficit midway through the second term, was akin to a mental tonne of bricks.
“Coming into today, I probably felt the pressure a little bit,” Connell admitted, “purely because everyone expects you to win and there’s that added external pressure.
“I didn’t think the group before the game felt it, but during the first half it probably did. That weight of expectation just slowed us down a bit in that first half.”
Jason Harmes, the Rex Swann medallist for best-afield in the umpires’ eyes, kick-started the Eagles with a goal out of a forward-50 stoppage with barely a minute on the clock.
It seemed to jolt the Magpies into action and they booted four of the next five goals to take a 12-point lead into quarter-time.
The Eagles were also down a rotation when veteran Sherif Mohamed sprayed a shot 15 metres out on the run, tearing a hamstring in the process and taking no further part in the game.
The one-way traffic in the Magpies’ favour continued in the second quarter.
The defence of Nathan Juegan, Robbie Glavas, Darcy McMahon, Drew Vincent and David Da Silva was nigh on impenetrable and the ferocity of onballers Nick Grant, Peter Krueger and Paul Clemente had the Eagles second-guessing about putting their head over the ball.
The scoreboard pressure was also starting to get to the Eagles with goals to Krueger, Kon Karavias – his second of the half – and John Eastoe giving the Magpies a 24-point lead at the 12-minute mark.
Two goals to key forward Corey Thomas in the term kept the Eagles within arm’s reach at half-time, down by 14 points.
“They were definitely the better side in the first half,” Connell conceded.
“They had more numbers around the footy and looked like they were running all over us and linking up a lot more.
“We were second to the footy and being reactive to them.”
The Magpies stretched their lead back out to 20 points early in the third when Clemente kicked a long set-shot goal from outside 50.
The Eagles needed to respond and quickly. Exciting youngster Chris Topalidis answered the call with two goals in the next five minutes. The sparkplug forward played the quarter of his life to get his side back into the contest.
“I had a good chat with him at the start of the game and basically said today is set up for him,” Connell said. “He’s a young kid, super quick, beautiful skills, sunny day, dry track — it was just his day.”
Clint Foreman, one of the Eagles forwards who never stopped presenting a target, got his side to within a kick before Nick Grant got an instant reply for the Magpies after a soft free.
It was obvious the Magpies were starting to tire as the Eagles’ defensive structures took over.
The last thing they wanted was a further erosion of their 10-point lead, but that came a second before the three-quarter-time siren when Andy Willis thieved the ball out of Darcy McMahon’s hands to goal and put the Eagles in front for the first time since the opening minute.
The Eagles rallied to the flag in the last quarter with two goals to Stephen D’Orazio and singles to Willis and Glenn Jansz, while the out-of-steam Magpies could register only two behinds.
“The last quarter came down to a bit of mental toughness,” Connell said. “It was above the shoulders more than anything.”
The Eagles celebrated a triple treat of premierships — the seniors, reserve and under-18s — into the wee hours of Monday morning and you can bet it will continue long into the week.
WRFL division 1 preliminary final, pages 60-61
