Grand Final: Demons v Reading Kangaroos (Social)

Stuart 'Kettles' Dow | 16.08.16

South London Demons 8.10 (58) def. Reading Kangaroos 3.2 (20)

It was finally here, the metaphorical Last Day in September and the Super 3’s were up-and-about! The sun was shining, the boys had the virtue of a week off and we had a strong line up – arguably the most balanced we had had all year. We were facing the Reading Roos, to whom we neatly touched-up in week 2 of the season, but we hadn’t seen since then. The story was they had tuned themselves into a solid outfit, so likewise we had to come prepared!

The first quarter started off like a firecracker; we gave away a free kick at the first centre bounce, which resulted in the Roos catapulting the ball over our half back line and running into the first goal of the game! At this moment - from the boundary, you could see a collective shift in the mentality of the Demons on the pitch, they knew it was do or die out there and we finally switched on. The ‘head-over the ball’ attitude immediately began and we saw the first of the mid-field domination of the afternoon. A strong centre clearance then resulted in the ball being held in our forward half for the remaining time of the quarter. Mark ‘Paddle-Pop Lion’ Brescacin was almost tagged out in the first, but with the help of Brett ‘Bert’ Hoare, Kane ‘Quiet’ Russell and spells from Stevie G and James ‘Prez’ Perrett, the mid-feld reigned supreme. Courtney ‘Babu’ Wright placed our first goal on the board and showed a clean set of heels out on the wing; this was ever so complimented by Bevan Connelly on the other wing, his intensity running back and fourth was simply brilliant. Tom ‘Toots’ Webster was doing exactly what was asked of him, adding defensive pressure up forward and was rewarded with a goal soon after. The quarter closed with a handy lead to the Super 3s of 2.2 (15) to 1.1 (7).

The second quarter was one for the books, we had all the momentum, all the attack and all of the ball. The only thing that we weren’t getting was the result on the scoreboard. The inevitable ‘breaking of the dam wall’ was an injury to David ‘Cash Money’ Lumley - who finished his day there and then with an ankle injury. Some restructuring from the sidelines and a surprisingly opened forward line resulted. This gave the likes of Terry Unitt and James Geale far more freedom to hit leading targets. We saw Dicky Benson come at the ball with vigour and Tim ‘Chicken Tim’ Donovan have space to detach from his opponent. The boys started to ramp up the pressure goals, Dicky Benson slotted a couple and Chicken Tim showed his new boots were working with two also. With that, the second quarter finished with a scoreless period for the Roos and a clear six goal lead to the Super 3s.

After half time it was a different game from the Roos, they came out and concluded playing the ball and went for the man. It wasn’t something the Demons were afraid of, but certainly didn’t anticipate. The first 10 minutes were hectic as the ball was richashaing around and bodies were flying everywhere. At this point it was time for Matt ‘Doc’ Holliday to get out there and kill someone – as he said was his intention all week. The backline stood up with absolute class, with the mainstays of Posty, Webby, Xavier Holland holding down the fort, with help from Mick Townsend, James ‘Prez’ Perret, Micky A and the outstanding contribution from Jeremy Coombes – who consistently creates contests but this time he was ultimately never beaten. The third term was much of a see-sawing battle of body-on-body hardness. The goals were limited and again we did get the better of those Roos with Toots adding one more for good measure.

The fourth quarter was not too dissimilar to the first with the manner to which it unfolded. The Roos just got the better of us with a flooding tactic. But the result of a stinging rebuke from the coach at the break and James Geale being positioned as a floating defender, we were able to hold off the charge. The Roos pinched one goal back but to little avail. The Demons played out the first eight minutes with hard-fought toughness and saw the Roos capitulate under the nature of the Super 3s attack. We saw a fantastic mark and resulting goal from Brett ‘Bert’ Hoare, which could be said was the icing on the cake to his Best on Ground performance. The rest of the boys had the advantage to run out the final few minutes with the knowledge the premiership was theirs and the South London Demons had gone Back-to-Back.  Some excellent contributions and names need to be mentioned; Doc for his first Premiership and final game with the club, Haydog for playing a role when required, Lachie Robinson for his excellent rucking, Animal for superb options up forward, Leathal, Kev, Marty Taylor, Eoin and Gatesy, for their outstanding work on the sidelines.

Stu 'Kettles' Dow

Coaches Note:

An excellent write up from Stu as always. I wanted to also add my thanks and appreciation to a couple of people for helping out this season. We really had 4 coaches! Stu, for all your help on the sidelines this season. Controlling the board and the interchange like a boss, likewise with your media liaising, doing the write ups most weeks and helping out speaking on my behalf when I couldn't make it back to the club. Brescy, for simply being able to say things better than I can! The amount of times you helped me translate the drill I had going on in my head to real human English words has definitely earnt you a couple of bottles of red over the off season, To Jimmy – your patience and understanding all season has been incredible. You were always there to offer advice and guidance in what was a really tough year with the amount of numbers we had to choose from. And finally, thank you to all the players who put up with me and offering me the opportunity to help us all get up for another premiership. I hope we see you all back again next year for flag #3!!

'Chicken' Tim Donovan

Goals: Dicky Benson 2, Toots 2, Chicken Tim 2, Babu 1, Bresci 1

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