Prelim Final '18: Demons vs Lions (Men's Premiership)

Frank "Frank" Caldow | 07.08.18

Wandsworth Demons 12.19.91 def North London Lions 7.3.45

Coming off a heartbreaking loss in extra time we were faced with a do or die battle against last years grand finalists North London.

It was a warm summer's afternoon with a slight breeze favouring one end which we won the toss and kicked to. 

For the 3rd game in a row we were slow out of the blocks, and for the 2nd week running allowed the opposition to kick the opening 2 goals of the game. As the quarter progressed we did start to win more ball through the midfield and a cracking goal from Joe Lee from the boundary line was the only major from plenty of scoring chances. Lions steadied with a late goal to give them the first quarter advantage, leading 3.0 to 1.7.

Kicking against a fading breeze we managed to wretch the game on our terms and turned a 5 point deficit into an 8 point lead at the main break. Although it was great to have a lead it did have the feeling that we should be further ahead. 

For the first part of the 3rd quarter we came out strong stamping our intent to kill the game off. We controlled the momentum but unfortunately. Dom was doing a great job tagging their best midfielder out of the game and was rewarded with a 50m and shot on goal for his hard work. Lions kicked a couple of goals late and for all our dominance went into the final change 19 points up, giving them a sniff. 

We came out in the last time and looked settled and composed giving our forwards repeat entries and with more balls sailing through the big sticks we were able to put the game beyond doubt early in the term. 

A really strong team effort to back up from a narrow defeat to earn a convincing win and a place in the Grand Final. Half the work is done by earning our spot in the Grand Final and now it comes down to playing our best football over 4 quarters to give ourselves the best opportunity for back to back Premierships.

Best: G, Richo, Noblett, Phillips, J.Lee, Pollard

< Back to the news