It was three cheers for Point Cook and three years of tears for Yarraville Seddon after the Western Region Football League division 2 grand final.
The Bulldogs produced a gigantic upset with a seven-point victory in an epic season decider at Avalon Airport Oval on Sunday, consigning the Eagles to a heartbreaking third consecutive grand final defeat.
With the Bulldogs having been on the receiving end of two heavy defeats to Yarraville Seddon in the home-and-away rounds and a semi-final loss two weeks earlier, few gave them a shot of winning the David versus Goliath grand final.
Bulldogs coach Ian Denny was a believer, though – and so were his players.
“We always thought we were a chance,” Denny said. “We kept believing … we only had to beat them once.”
What an epic grand final it turned out to be.
After Point Cook had skipped away to a 34-point lead 10 minutes into the second quarter, Yarraville Seddon reeled in the margin to a more manageable 10 points by half-time.
From that point on, it was a decider that had everyone on the edge of their seats.
The momentum swings were constant.
Yarraville Seddon made Point Cook pay for its inefficiency in attack early in the third quarter, drawing level after goals to Matthew Taylor and Jesse Varsamakis.
Then Point Cook wrestled the game back on to its terms with goals in quick succession to Matthew Poland and Alex Grigg.
The Bulldogs had ramped up their defensive pressure to the levels they were producing in the early stages of the match.
But they wasted a number of scoring opportunities, finishing with 2.6 for the third quarter, so you had to wonder if that would come back to haunt them when Jack Hargreaves goaled for Yarraville Seddon before three-quarter time to cut the margin to 10.
The fourth quarter was full of tension.
The Eagles were doing all the attacking, but they could not find a way past Point Cook defensive mainstays Nick Weir, Todd Caulfield, Jed Eastwood and captain Mason Kip.
With the scoreboard stuck on a three-point margin in Point Cook’s favour, the game was crying out for a match-winner.
Up stepped Bulldog veteran full forward Kirk Heberle. He gathered the ball in the forward pocket, sidestepped a tired Yarraville Seddon defender and snapped around the corner for what would be a game-sealing third goal.
Jessi Lampi claimed the Rex Swann Medal for best-on-ground.
Point Cook’s first senior WRFL premiership was won in its inaugural season in the league.
The Bulldogs transferred their seniors from the Victorian Amateur Football Association in the off-season.
Denny believes this is just the start of something big for Point Cook. “There’s a massive amount of kids coming through this club,” he said. “In five years time, there’s going to be an absolute juggernaut coming at the Western Region Football League.
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