Surrey Park’s meteoric rise will continue into Division 2 in season 2025 after winning the 2024 Division 3 premiership over Donvale.
Trailing for most of the day, the Panthers were able to kick three in the final 10 minutes of the game to complete a 12.12 (84) to 12.10 (82) victory over the reigning premiers.
Saturday marks a second-ever senior men’s premiership for the Surrey Park Football Club having not won one since their Division 4 success last year.
Key to the victory was young guns Jasper Mundy and Tom Smith. Whilst Mundy provided a presence up forward and kicked two goals, Smith’s class in midfield shone once again and saw him rewarded with the Perc James Medal for best on ground.
Chris Tsatas and George Haynes also continued their good finals run in defence while Connor Ryan-Simmons and Jack Mahon fought hard across the ground all day, with Mahon also kicking the premiership-winning goal.
For Donvale a terrific 2024 season comes to an end, falling by the same margin which they fell to the Waverley Blues in the 2022 Division 3 decider.
Small forwards Harrison Giles and Kaleb Djordevic provided plenty of spark, the latter finishing as the game’s leading goalkicker with four.
Zac Haig and Mihaele Zalac stood out in midfield, particularly in the first half when they were able to push Donvale into their attacking half consistently.
It was that duo, along with club stalwart Nick Murphy, which helped the Vales kick the first three goals of the game inside the first six minutes to quickly rush out to a 17 point lead.
Surrey Park were able to settle into the game though, kicking three of the last five goals of an entertaining first quarter to reduce the deficit down to two straight kicks at quarter time.
Much like the first, Donvale got off to a very quick start, kicking two goals in the first three minutes and increasing their advantage to 28 points.
As they had all season long though, the Panthers fought back against the Vales and kicked the last two goals of the quarter to trail by 14 points heading into the main break.
James Kenworthy men started the third with much more intent, kicking the first two goals of the term and only conceding one behind to trail by that behind midway through the term.
It became a much more open and entertaining end to the term. During the final 15 minutes, Donvale kicked two of the last three goals which saw them hold the lead by one straight kick.
Kevin Collins’ side then quickly increased their advantage with three of the first four goals of the last, with Kaleb Djordevic’s fourth goal seeing them hold a 16 point lead at the 15 minute mark.
But as they had done all day Surrey Park fought back, kicking the final three goals of the game in five minutes to take the lead for the first time since the first quarter.
From there the Panthers kept it in their attacking half and were able to hold on for a historic victory, one that would see a rush of emotion amongst fans and players when the final siren rang across Jubilee Park.
