DEVILS RESERVES SHOW THE RAMS HOW IT'S DONE.
With the East Burwood Football Club embracing the Deakin Devils and making them part of the East Burwood family, it has given the Devils a home they can be proud of. Since Round One, the Devils have shown steady improvement and despite the injuries sustained, the Devils with the support of the Rams were to never look back and pushed forward. With both the Seniors and Reserves making the finals, it has been a huge plus for the club and whilst the Seniors were out of the finals race in the first round, the Reserves were in with a double chance. The Reserves lost the Qualifying Final which cut deep and in saying that, they took note on where they went wrong and set themselves the task to obtain the Holy Grail. They won the next final to take on Darebin in the Grand Final and with Darebin going in favourites, the Devils were no easy beats and the score for the year was two wins a piece.
From the first bounce it was the Devils who controlled the game and the dominance in the Ruck from Holly Pink (Pinky) who gave the Devils first use of the ball every time, was something the Falcons could not counter. As the ball went forward, the Falcons doubled up on leading goal kicker Kirsty Turner (Ike) to spoil her marking attempts, in doing so let Michelle Aurisch (Dodge) take full advantage as she put through a major to the roar of the crowd. The first quarter was all one way traffic with the Devils in the driver's seat and Darebin scoring on the Siren. The quarter time break saw East Burwood 3.2.20 to Darebin 1.0.6
The Second quarter saw East Burwood totally shut down Darebin with Meg Downie leading the way and Holly continuing her dominance in the ruck. The Devils kicked 2 goals and held Darebin scoreless and as the teams walked off at half time it was East Burwood 5.4.34 to Darebin 1.0.6. With the Devils slapping each other on the back as they walked off, the Falcons were fuming and you could see they were going to regroup and come out swinging.
The Third quarter we saw the Falcons come out full of steam as they are no easy beats. They kicked a goal and were having a red hot go. The Devils were now being caught on the back foot. Holly Pink was taken off to be rested and that coincided with the Falcons dominance in attack and the Falcons outscored the Devils heading into the final break. The Scores were East Burwood 6.5.41 to Darebin 3.1.19
Before the Final quarter started, many questions were being asked in the crowd. Are the Devils stopping? Is Darebin up and running and will they run over the top of the Devils as they had in previous games? The Falcons had the scoring end it was set for an exciting last quarter.
The umpire bounced the ball and the game was on. The Devils once again cleared the ball in the ruck and pushed forward for Ike to goal. Was this the sealer? No way, the Falcons attacked the ball and forced it into their forward line and a penalty resulted in a free kick on goal for the Falcons. It was a major and whilst the crowd were prepared for the Falcons to swoop, the Devils flicked their tales and once again it was one way traffic. In what was truly a team effort to keep the ball in the Devils forward fifty for most of the last quarter, the results showed clearly on the scoreboard.
As the Siren sounded it was the Devils who ran out victors spoiling Darebin's day of a double win. The final score was East Burwood 11.9.75 defeating Darebin 4.1.25
The Holy Grail is now in the hands of the Devils. Their First Flag since their inception just on ten years ago. Now part of the East Burwood family, their male counterparts (the Rams) head into the finals with their Reserve squad. The girls have shown them how to do it and will no doubt be there cheering the Rams on at Bayswater this Saturday, if they finish their celebrations!
Best on ground voted by the umpires was Meg Downie, in what I can only describe as a stunning four quarter effort.
GOALS - East Burwood: Aurisch 5, Turner 3, Murrowood 2, Clarke 1
GOALS - Darebin: Cardona 2, Boyle 2
BEST - East Burwood: Downie (Best on ground), Murrowood, Evens, Pink, Turner, Bruce
BEST - Darebin: Escreet, Boyle, Van Riel, Spain, Coutts, Evans
