The Nexus South West League side have won the Nutrien Ag Country Championship for a record 25th time, defeating last years Champions by eleven points at Sullivans Logistics Stadium, Leederville.
The opening quarter started with rain falling, but it didn’t take long for the ball to find its way into the South West forward line, with Cooper Clarke-Dehring kicking the first goal of the Grand Final. A minute later, Richie Bourne kicked a goal from deep in the pocket on the run, to give the South West a two goal lead. The remainder of the quarter saw the ball on the ground in the greasy conditions, as the South West
took a ten point lead into the quarter time break.
Avon dominated the opening minutes of the second quarter, peppering the goals without reward. South West stole the ball and almost scored at the opposite end, but desperate defence by Avon thwarted a certain goal. On quick transition Kyle Walsh ended up with the ball in the goal square to kick Avon’s first goal. Two minutes later Joshua Burke converted to put Avon in front. Avon had all of the momentum, putting the South West under enormous pressure, with a defensive error leading to Avon’s third goal to Lewis York in the goal square, as the margin extended to 9 points. The second half of the quarter was riddled with errors from both teams, which led to an error on the goal line late in the term leading to Josh Burke kicking his second one metre out, giving the Avon at 15 point lead at half time.
The South West showed plenty of intent at the start of the third term, with a defensive error from Avon leading to a goal to Cooper Nitschke to narrow the margin back to ten points. A long ball from outside 50m from Liam Creighton ended with Nitschke soccerring a goal from the top of the goal square to narrow the margin to four points moments later. A desperate tackle by Creighton followed by a bullet pass to Greg Humphries who converted, put the South West back in front. Creighton was everywhere, and a minute later he snapped a brilliant goal to give the South West a nine point lead. On the stroke of three quarter time Creighton had a chance to extend the margin further, but the ball fell just short, with the South West, after an inspiring quarter led by Creighton took a nine point lead into the final term.
The final quarter was a tight affair, with a wayward South West kick landing in the arms of Jordan Lee who snapped a goal to Avon,
narrowing the margin to three points. Shaun Crane pounced on a ball deep in the pocket and squared the ball beautifully landing with Cooper Clarke-Dehring, who kicked the first goal to the Southern end for the match. It would be the winning goal as it turned out, with the South West winning their 25th Championship.
Numerous players had good games for the South West, but it would be Liam Creighton’s third quarter brilliance that got South West back in the match, and rightfully was awarded player of the match.
Match Centre
South West 2.1.13 2.2.14 6.4.40 7.8.50
Avon 0.3.3 4.5.29 4.7.31 5.9.39
Goals: South West – Cooper Clarke-Dehring 2, Cooper Nitschke 2, Richard Bourne 1, Liam Creighton 1, Gregory Humphreys 1. Avon – Joshua Burke 2, Jordan Lee 1, Kyle Walsh, Lewis York 1.
Best: South West – Liam Creighton, Jack Fletcher, Jude Harrop, Jon Meadmore, Shaun Crane, Mitchell Tenardi
Ground: Sullivans Logistics Stadium
Umpires: Sam Verdon (Peel), Zac Schurko (Peel), Cameron Valenti (SWFL)
Reports: Nil
Awards:
JJ Lusick Umpire of the Carnival: Zac Schurko (Peel)
Nutrien Ag Boundary Umpire of the Carnival: Daniella Schoeman (SWFL)
Nutrien Ag Goal Umpire of the Carnival: Liam Seery (Peel)
Dick Smith Trophy – Coach of the Championship: Seth White (SWFL)
WAFL Combined Past Players Rising Star: Cooper Clarke-Dehring (SWFL)
Jock Coleman Medal Goal Kicking: Matt Rogers (Goldfields)
All Stars SWFL: Liam Creighton, Cooper Clarke-Dehring, Mitch Tenardi, Tom Gorter
All Stars Coach: Seth White (SWFL)
Nutrien Ag Medal Best on Ground in Grand Final: Liam Creighton
Times Medal for SWFL Player of the Championship: Mitch Tenardi
Photo courtesy of Country Football WA Facebook Page. All action photos courtesy of Sharyn Newlands.