The relief was the biggest emotion for Point Cook Centrals on Saturday as they claimed the Western Region Football League division 2 premiership.
Having gone through the season undefeated, all the pressure heading into the match was on the Sharks to overcome Parkside and complete the perfect season.
It was the Magpies that brought the heat early and led by one point at half time.
An eight minute period in the third quarter would be the match defining period. The Sharks kicked four goals in that period to take a 24 point lead into the last break.
The Magpies kept coming in the last quarter and managed to outscore the Sharks, but it wasn’t enough.
Centrals claimed the premiership, 10.4 (64)-7.6 (48).
Sharks coach Dean Chambers said it was a massive day for the club.
“There’s a lot of relief,” he said. “There was a lot of pressure going into the game and everyone was talking about the inevitable.
“To get the cup was a massive relief at the end of the day. Parkside was a fantastic competitor.”
The Sharks dominated the last contest between the two teams in the first week of finals, but it was a lot closer this time round.
Chambers said they were slightly concerned at half time, despite the margin being just one point.
“For the first half, Parkside played like we had for most of the year,” he said.
“They brought the pressure for long periods of time. Other teams had been able to do that for short periods of time, but not as long as that throughout the season.
“They threw the team around from the first final, it took half a game for us to adjust.”
Chambers said at half time they just reinforced that they had to stick to their structures and believe in the game plan that had worked all year for them in the second half.
He said they knew that they could turn it around.
“We knew there would be periods in the second half,” he said. “We knew we had to play more than 120 minutes of football.
“It didn’t matter if we won by one point or 100 points. Full credit to Parkside. We knew something was going to come for us, but we didn’t know when it would come.”
Chambers said they continued to try and attack in the final quarter, but the Magpies should down many of their forays.
The Sharks just needed to hold their nerve to get the win.
“Parkside didn’t allow us to have it our own way,” he said. “We needed to control the contest and slow it down.”
Lachlan Grant was awarded the best on ground medal for his impact down forward, with five goals.
Chambers said the backline led by Cale Du Plessis and Kurt Mayne were really good. He said Mitchell Palmer was the one who ignited them in the third quarter when they needed a spark.
The win for the Sharks capped off a big day, with their women’s side winning the division 2 grand final earlier in the day.
Chambers said there was a big crowd to watch the women’s, before a massive night at the club as everyone celebrated the two premierships.
The men’s premiership is the club’s first since 2018 when they won the division 3 premiership.
Next season they will be in division 1 and up against the big boys of the competition.
For Chambers and the committee it’s an exciting time to be at the club.
“Division 1 is really exciting and it’s what we’ve been building to,” he said. “We want to be a destination club.
“Our junior program has been a huge focus of ours and it was really good seeing so many juniors and their families at the game and in the club rooms afterwards.
“We’ll take stock and look at finals next week including the under-18s. We’ll start looking to the future and we’ve already got some ex-juniors who have indicated they want to come back.
“It’s an exciting time for the club.”
