Hawks crowned champions

By Ben O’Brien
THE CURTAIN fell on the 2006 YVMDFL season on Saturday, with Monbulk claiming overall honours by taking out back-to-back flags in senior football, and claiming the A-Grade netball title as well.
In front of a larger than expected crowd (with only three clubs competing), followers of Upwey-Tecoma were hopeful of a big day out, with all five of the club’s sides competing in grand finals. And the day certainly started promisingly enough, with the U18s triumphing over Healesville, 7.11.53 to 6.5.41. But for the Tigers’ bad kicking, the game could have been all over at quarter time, but a scoreline of 1.7 to 1.0 kept the Bloods in the game – it wasn’t until the final term that Healesville registered their first behind for the morning. Despite peppering the goals in that last quarter (with seven shots to two), Healesville’s earlier accuracy deserted them, and the Upwey-Tecoma defence held firm to get them across the line and both hands firmly on the Amcor Cup, – League Best and Fairest winner Blair Sheppard claimed the BOG medal.
In a preview of the main game, Monbulk and Upwey-Tecoma clashed in the Reserves. With Upwey-Tecoma claiming the minor premiership, they went into the match as favourites, and after a reasonably close first quarter, they went on to show why, completely outplaying the Hawks in the blustery conditions – the final scoreline 18.12.120 to 6.3.39, with Tiger Shaun Marcus taking best-on-ground honours. That was the third consecutive flag for Upwey’s Reserves team, and they will, no doubt, be gunning for a slice of history in 2007.
By this stage, both A and B Grade netball finals had been completed. The first match saw Healesville’s B-grade cap off a remarkable month, when they defeated Upwey-Tecoma 33 to 30. The Bloods finished the season in fourth position, but a barnstorming finals campaign culminated in a well-deserved victory on Saturday and the Division 1 B-Grade netball premiership. Healesville centre Sonia Reichelt was best-on-court.
In the A-Grade, Upwey-Tecoma were looking to avenge their semi-final defeat at the hands of Monbulk, and were going for back-to-back flags. The first quarter was a tight affair, but the match blew out in the second term, with the Hawks shooting seven goals to three to take a handy 15-8 lead into the second half. Upwey-Tecoma had claimed the minor premiership, and the third quarter showed why, with nine goals to three in their favour meaning that only one goal separated the sides at the final break. However, Monbulk steadied over the last 12 minutes to record a five-goal wine, 25 to 20. Another League Best and Fairest winner, Monbulk’s Melinda Whitworth, was the winner of the Anita Woods medal.
In the main football event of the day, Monbulk got away to a fast start, recording two goals before Upwey-Tecoma had even troubled the scorers. The boot was then on the other foot, with the Tigers kicking seven of the next nine goals, before some individual brilliance from Shannon Koole, resulted in two goals and tipped the match (just) the Hawks’ way at half-time, with a scoreline of 10.8 to 8.0.
The third term was a nil-all draw, with Upwey-Tecoma closing the gap by a solitary point, but with Monbulk coming home with the wind, the 19-point margin was always going to be tough to overhaul.
The Hawks had no intentions of letting the game slip, and put the foot down to kick 6.4 while holding Upwey-Tecoma goalless, to eventually claim the Compass Group Cup by 52 points, 18.16.124 to 10.12.72. They became the second side for the day to record consecutive flags, and Monbulk’s Shannon Koole capped off a great day for the club by winning his second consecutive Wayne Morris medal.