Under 15s claim holy grail

100-gamer Josh Whitford-Marriott

IF you were ever going to play your best footy for the season you would want to do it in a grand final and that's exactly what the New Norfolk Under 15s did at KGV oval on Sunday. The young Eagles ran the Brighton boys off their feet to win by a whopping 59 points. In amazing scenes once the final siren sounded, all players, parents and supporters joined in the celebrations on the ground. Had the Hunters and Collectors song Holy Grail come over the P.A. after the game it would have capped off a perfect season for the Eagles who finished undefeated in the U/15B roster.

From the opening bounce New Norfolk kicked five goals to Brighton's one, making a clear statement they were there to play. The Eagles continued their good work in the second term, kicking four more majors while again keeping Brighton to just one goal as the lead stretched out to 44 points at the main break.

In the third term Brighton managed to out-score the Eagles two goals to one, but this did little to deter a side that wasn't going to let a grand final victory slip. And didn't they show it in the final term. The hunger for a premiership was evident as they kicked four goals to Brighton's one and the mighty Eagles were home! Their running play throughout the game was a real feature, showing why they were the best side for 2012.

Congratulations to speedstar Joshua Whitford-Marriott for playing his 100th game in the grand final - I'm sure he will never forget it! Well done Josh, you put your milestone aside to concentrate on the job at hand and you played a terrific game as did every New Norfolk player with everyone having input to the excellent win. You all should be very proud of yourselves. Co-captain Brayden Chaplin led by example, picking up possessions at will all over the ground and was unlucky not to be named best on ground.

A big thank you to coach Josh Clifford for his hard work and dedication to the team. A top job and we all really appreciate what you have done. Thanks also to Dannielle Stevenson for the work she has done. To all the officials and parents and supporters, thank you also. We couldn't have done it without you. Finally I would like to wish Zoe Thurston the best of luck for the future. Having been in this side since the Under 8s, this was her last game with the team.

WADE GLEESON

Scores - New Norfolk 14.11 (95) d Brighton 5.6 (36). Goals - New Norfolk: C. Stewart 2, J. Whitford-Marriott 2, B. Hodge 2, N. Wakefield, A. Thorpe, J. Locher, D. Browning, K. Tomkinson, J. Challenger, J. Eiszele, B. Chaplin; Brighton: J. Davie 3, J. Pate, J. Byers. Best - New Norfolk: B. Chaplin, J. Whitford-Marriott, R. Wakefield, H. Bielleman, D. Browning, Z. Thurston; Brighton: J. Byers, J. Walker, C. Harback, S. Tubb, M. Palmer, T. Ford.

Match video at YouTube

Action from the game.