Hosted at City Mazda Stadium (Richmond Oval) our A Grade set to take on Glenunga and the B Grade vs Flinders Park. Both teams having exceptional seasons and having both the A's and B's featuring really proves the depth of quality players at the club. A huge congratulations to the coaching staff of both teams for their work over the season, creating a cohesive unit and a really positive atmosphere around the club. Also massive thanks to all the training staff for their tireless work over the year looking after all the players. It gets pretty crazy in the heat of the moment but they do an amazing job!
B Grade Grand final vs Flinders Park kicked off at 12:15pm on Saturday 14th of September. [Match video here]
The start of the match had Flinders Park come out of the blocks quick with 2 goals in the first 2 minutes giving us a shock to the system. From there the rest of the quarter was very back and forth with both teams struggling to make an impact on the scoreboard. The start of the second quarter was a case of deja vu with Flinders Park kicking 2 more goals in the first minute and a half to extend their lead to 25 points. In what was looking to be a low scoring affair on the big oval, 25 points down early in the 2nd was already looking ominous. To our guys credit they dug in and goals from Adam Valana & Tom Scanlon steadied things to bring the half time score OIFC 2.5-17 v FP 4.3-27. The third quarter was where we wanted to turn up the pressure and hit the scoreboard but struggled to create good chances from inside 50. Going into the last quarter trailing by only 8 points, the contest was well and truly on. Our guys had a real crack at overturning the deficit but Flinders Park were able to keep the ball in their forward line and kick a couple of late goals when we had to go all out attack. Final score: OIFC 4.8-32 def by Flinders Park 7.7-49
A Grade Grand final vs Glenunga kicked off at 2:30pm on Saturday 14th of September. [Match video here]
Early stages of the match had Glenunga pushing forward, creating chances on goal and getting the early ascendancy. As the quarter progressed our build up play took over and with straight kicking had us go into quarter time leading by 5 points. The second quarter is where the game broke open. Both teams trading goals but as half time loomed, Glenunga slotted 3 goals to hold the half time lead of 20 points. Start of the third quarter we came out firing with an early goal which I thought might set the tone but Glenunga dug in and kept our chances limited. Even still we narrowed the margin to 13 points at three quarter time. Heading into the last quarter the warm day was definitely becoming a factor but our guys had put in a lot of pre season work and were felling fit and up for the final quarter of the season. Frustratingly Glenunga were able to come out right from the start and sneak 2 quick goals in a minute and a half putting hard scoreboard pressure, making it very tough to come back from. To our players credit, they didn't let their heads drop and continued to fight til the final siren.
Final score: OIFC 10.5-65 def by Glenunga 12.14-86
All the players can hold their heads high for such a positive season. Although we didn't come away with any wins, to bounce back from last years relegation so quickly is admirable. We've got a bunch of young, strong and talented players working brilliantly as a team so I'm looking forward to season 2020!
Finally would like to thank all the families, friends and club supporters for their support over the season. I know the players and everyone else involved truly appreciates your efforts heading all over the city to various matches. I know there were people that went straight from watching the guys play at Plympton, to watch the girls play up at Tea Tree Gully on the same Saturday! Enjoy the off season, will see you all in 2020!
