Orbost Snowy has stormed home to claim the Bairnsdale and District junior football under 14 flag, defeating Lakes Maroon by 30 points at Bairnsdale City Oval yesterday.

The Blues trailed by four points at three quarter time, however slammed on five unanswered goals as the Maroons were held scoreless in the final term.

Orbost Snowy had earned its spot in the grand final after a 9-3 regular season, matching the record of their grand final counterparts, and a brilliant performance in the second semi final when they defeated the Seagulls by 26 points.

Lakes Maroon bounced back in the preliminary final, defeating Lindenow by one-goal to have a shot at claiming the premiership.

But Orbost Snowy wasn’t to be denied. Jake Humphreys put Orbost Snowy up by two points in the second minute of the final term after nailing his set shot from 10 metres out.

A smart Meg Herbert handball resulted in the Blues’ next major six minutes later and a nine-point lead.

Jake Humphreys got another at the 13minute mark after playing on from 30m out with Orbost Snowy adding two more in the dying minutes to lock up the flag.

After being competitive in the first three terms, Lakes Maroon was overwhelmed in the last as the Blues went to another level.

Brent Candian kicked the first goal of the match for Orbost Snowy in the third minute with Tate Clay extending the Blues’ lead to 11 points at the seven-minute mark. Zac Hooper moved Lakes Maroon within five points a couple of minutes later as both sides were unable to add to their tally in the final three minutes.

Orbost Snowy started the second term well, but it was unable to convert with Harry Warfe making the Blues pay at the other end of the ground with a dribble kick that rolled through for a goal.

Scores were now level, but the Seagulls would hit the front soon after with Oscar Brazzale putting his side up by a goal after he won a one-on-one contest in the goalsquare.

The Blues were again caught out the back after missing a couple of gettable opportunities.

Jammo Humphreys then put Orbost Snowy up by three points on the half time siren.

The match was an arm wrestle, as both teams weren’t giving an inch.

Lakes Maroon got back in front thanks to a Brazzale goal in the first minute and were soon up by 11 points with Warfe snapping truly from the boundary.

Jet Phillips closed the gap 13 minutes in, however Hooper pushed the Seagulls’ lead back to 11 points with five minutes to go with a clever goal.

In the last minute of the third stanza Clay took a strong mark and converted his set shot from 30m out on a slight angle to put the Blues within four points at the last change.

In the final quarter it was one-way traffic as Orbost Snowy rose to the occasion and secured the win The Blues’ Cooper Vickery was a deserving winner of the best-on-ground medal after dominating in the middle, while Oscar Millward was lively across half back alongside Jammo Humphreys.

For Lakes Entrance, Darren Proctor was on fire early, but faded late, with Liam Allen, Thomas Stephenson and Tarkyn Nicol playing well.

TIGERS GET OVER THE LINE

In the under 12 decider Wy Yung claimed a 15-point victory against Orbost Snowy.

The match was hard-fought but in the end the Tigers got over the line. Wy Yung lost the second semi final against their grand final opponents by 43 points, but with its season on the line in the preliminary final it lifted, securing a 23-point win against Lucknow.

The Tigers made the most of their second shot against the Blues, getting the job done when it mattered most.
Despite going down, Orbost Snowy managed to work its way back into the contest. It conceded four goals to zero in the opening term and then slowly pegged the Tigers back.

Early on it was one-way traffic as Wy Yung slotted four goals in a row to have the Blues behind the eight ball.

After quarter time the Blues lifted and got themselves back into the contest through hard work and determination.

While Orbost Snowy recorded seven scoring shots to two in the second stanza, it could only cut Wy Yung’s lead to 17 points at half time, the Blues wayward with 2.5 for the term to the Tigers’ 1.4.

The third quarter was an even affair and with the Blues kicking two goals to one, they were now within 14 points, heading into the final quarter.

Orbost Snowy had done well to work its way back into the contest, but would need to start positively in the final quarter in order to chase the Tigers down.

The Blues did just that and had seemingly kicked the first goal of the final stanza, but it was disallowed as it was kicked off the ground.

Shortly afterwards Wy Yung got its first and only goal of the term through Max Neate, who roved the pack and kicked towards goal with a good bounce helping the ball over the line two minutes in.

The Tigers were 19 points up, however Orbost Snowy didn’t give in and Noah Christy kicked a brilliant goal from 10m out to reduce the margin to 15 points at the 14-minute mark.

It wasn’t enough, however, as Wy Yung held on for victory.

Christy was the best player on the ground with his dash from half back a highlight, as well as booting three goals, while Toby Herbert was solid for four quarters alongside Angus Davis.

For the Tigers, Neate and Oliver Emmett kicked two goals, Jake Andrews-Hei was key before being injured late in the third quarter, while Ryan Cullinan was awarded the best on ground medal.

PICTURED: Orbost Snowy’s under 14 side celebrate after defeating Lakes Maroon by 30 points last Sunday at Bairnsdale City Oval to clinch the Bairnsdale District junior under 14 football flag. The Blues’ under 12s also played in the decider on Sunday, but were unable to stave off Wy Yung, going down by 15 points. K1129-379