WA Amateurs one point thriller
08 Jun, 2009
The West Coast Eagles Under 23 State Amateurs survived a second half onslaught to defeat the VAFA state team by one point in a thriller at Fremantle Oval.
On a perfect June day for football, WA snuck past Victoria 8.12 (60) to 8.11 (59) edging one step further to becoming the national amateur football champions.
North Fremantle’s Daniel Starr kicked the first goal of the match to get WA off to a strong start ahead of an intense first quarter that saw neither side giving up any ground to the other.
Victoria went into the second quarter with a narrow two point lead, but the next twenty-odd minutes were all about the boys from WA.
In an outstanding second term, WA outscored the Vics by twenty points with Starr and West Coast Cowan’s Guy Boudville kicking one goal and two behinds each for the quarter.
WA kicked two goals and six singles unanswered before Victoria’s Matthew Handley got his side’s only goal for the quarter approaching half time.
Heading into the main break WA had an 18 point lead that could have been more if not for inaccuracies with eight shots at goal either hitting the post or going wide for a behind.
The second half began with another Starr goal, before the Vics went on a 15-0 run dominating possession to close out the third quarter.
Fremantle CBC’s Matthew Coker had an unfortunate third term, with two kicks into the forward 50 going straight into the hands of Victoria.
As the wind picked up, WA’s nine point lead stretched to 16 with a Coker behind and a goal from Matthew Breen in the opening minutes of the final term.
Victoria went on the attack, getting within eight points before a Tim Underwood goal gave the WA boys a 14 point buffer halfway through the quarter.
Two goals, one behind and persistent attacking of the ball saw Victoria get within one, looking dangerous as the last few minutes of the quarter played out.
WA’s backline held up an aggressive Victorian offensive in the final minutes, clearing the ball away from the goal square to hold out for the win.
The Victorian coaching staff awarded best on ground to Boudville and Victoria’s Jack Hellier.
The WA coaching staff gave best on ground to captain Jamie Birrell of Trinity Aquinas and Victoria’s Daniel Strachan.
The Neil Judge Medal for fairest and best, voted on by the umpires, was awarded to Stirling’s Aaron Sweet.
WA’s win over the Victorians puts them in the driver’s seat needing just a win over South Australia next year to claim the national championship.
