by Andrew Wiles (Twitter: @andrewjwiles)
PERFECTION. It’s something hard to define.
Some don’t even believe it is possible to achieve.
But a season where a team finishes undefeated and wins the Grand Final must be close.
In 2013, South Belgrave managed to do just that, overcoming Forrest Hill by eight points. And it couldn’t have been in more dramatic fashion.
As the siren sounded at Walker Park in the ‘Choose Tap’ Division 4 Grand Final to end the fourth quarter, scores were level at 71 apiece. It was the second time in three years that scores were tied after the fourth quarter of a Division 4 Grand Final.
That meant extra time, five minutes each way and, as the old saying goes, ‘commeth the moment, commeth the man’.
Alex Bakens kicked two clutch extra times goals, one at each end, to hand South Belgrave the 2013 premiership cup and the all important promotion into Division 3 in 2014.
The Saints were the standout performers of 2013.
Many tipped them to be Division 3 bound at the end of the day a long way out. No one would have predicated it in this fashion.
They stepped out of The Basin’s shadow in 2013 to play some unbelievable football at times, summed up perfectly by there 152–6 drubbing of Ferntree Gully in Round 17, followed by a 176-point win over Coldstream the following week.
But the Saints had their backs against the ropes for the majority of the game today.
Kim Aboujaber kicked the Saints’ first one minute into the game, but they were held goalless for the rest of the quarter and trailed at half time by 13 points.
After a scoreless opening nine minutes of the third quarter, you just felt that after two goals in succession to Alex Benbow and Akex Bakens, South Belgrave was back.
To Forest Hill’s credit, the Zebras withstood the run to lead by seven points at the final change.
They couldn’t, could they?
The fourth quarter started exactly how you would expect. High intensity and high pressure, mixed in with some big hits and heavy tackles.
Leigh Odermatt’s goal at the start of the fourth was a game changer. It gave his side the lead for the first time since the opening minutes. Any doubts that he wasn’t best on ground were immediately quashed.
Deservingly, he was awarded the Blue Ribbon Medal for his best afield performance which included three goals.
Just went you thought the Saints were home, that they had finally done it; enter Nathan Jumeau.
He kicked two goals in the dying two minutes to give the Zebras the lead. It was only a poster from John Horton that denied them that elusive flag.
A champion team beats a team of champions, and that is exactly how South Belgrave played in extra time period.
There weren’t many people who gave Forest Hill a chance of winning today. Every other Division 4 coach tipped South Belgrave, as well as every media team member.
But the Zebras were immense.
The tail of the tape had the Saints as heavyweight fighters, the powerhouse, up against the featherweight Zebras, who had to fight and claw their way into a Grand Final from a first-week Elimination Final.
The game that was played out though was nothing short of remarkable.
South Belgrave, like The Basin before it, finished off an undefeated season with a premiership.
It was deserved, it was earned. Now the Saints can set their sights on a tilt at Division 3 success in 2014.
Perfection.