It has taken the Whittlesea Football Club 22 years to win an A Grade Grand Final. Their last premiership was back in 1988 in the Riddell Football League. The win on Saturday was a result of a lot of hard work by many people and players within the club over the past 22 years and this premiership cup is as much theirs as it is ours; without your past commitment, we would not be where we are today.

I would personally like to thank all our supporters who ventured down to the Cramer Street oval to cheer our team on. We outnumbered the Lower Plenty supporters at least two to one. Thanks also to the Dyson Group for providing buses to and from the ground and I must apologies to the young lady who we picked up at the South Morang bus stop and gave her a lift to Whittlesea, it will be a ride she will never forget.

The entire team arrived at the ground on the Dysons bus and the atmosphere was pretty good for a final. After the warm-up, coach Peter Bugden discussed the game plan and told each player what was expected from them. There was time for a quick team photo out the back followed by a three-minute DVD to an Eminem song showing how they got to the grand final before it was time to run out through the banner which stated “Eagles are on the up, Let’s bring home the cup”.

Both teams lined up on the grandstand side of the oval as the national anthem was performed live. At the conclusion of the anthem, the 22 players out there knew it was game on. At the first bounce, we were playing a loose man in defence which was Nick Snowdon. We gained the upper hand early with a strong mark and goal to Andrew Fairchild and the signs looked good. With another two goals for the quarter and most of the play in our forward line and only allowing Lower Plenty a solitary point, we dominated the opening quarter and led by 21 points.

With the second quarter underway, again we dominated the play and were in full control of the game. At the 20-minute mark of the quarter it looked as if we were going in at the main break with a convincing lead, but Lower Plenty had kicked three goals in as many minutes and reduced the margin to six points at the main break. Coach Peter Bugden was disappointed that the Eagles could let the lead slip when we had been in total control. He asked for more tackles and to man up in the second half.

With the game still poised with only a goal separating both teams, it was there for the taking. Once again, we dominated the quarter but our inaccurate kicking was starting to look like it would cost us the match. Lower Plenty had reduced the margin to three points; then a scuffle broke out on the outer wing where captain Garrett Heenan and a Bears player were both yellow carded and had to sit out the game for 15 minutes which resulted in a 50-metre penalty to Steven Dorsett who booted it straight through and then a late goal to Lucas Hobbs put us 17 points in front at the final break.

We all knew that it was going to be a nerve-racking final term and we were spot on. Our supporters started to find their voices and you could see that that was starting to spur the boys on. The lead hovered around the three-goal mark for most of the quarter where both teams were now playing man-on-man with no loose men anywhere to be seen. This created great contests all over the ground. I remember looking up at the scoreboard at the time clock and it didn’t seem to be moving, then Lower Plenty kicked a goal at the 22-minute mark and reduced the gap to 13 points. We then started to chip the ball around and wind down the clock, we managed a late point which made it 14 points then at the 29-minute mark it was all over and we had won the premiership. We all raced to the centre of the oval to congratulate everybody and I must admit I have never seen so many grown men and women with tears in their eyes (and I must confess that I was one of them).

Then the team song was sung with such enthusiasm that I have never heard before and that I will never forget. It was a special day in my life as it would have been for many others. I also know that Kevin Walsh was up there looking down and helped us get across the line.

Whittlesea     9   17   71
Lower Plenty 9    3    57

Goal kickers: Andrew Fairchild 2, Matt Dornauf 2, Lucas Hobbs 2, Travis Stevens 1, Lachlan Brennan 1, Scott Mc Auliffe 1.
Best players: Nick Snowdon, Roy Dyson, Travis Stevens, Matthew Quinton, Jeremy Page, Lucas Hobbs.