Young Eagles fly three flags

By Marc McGowan
CRANBOURNE added three premiership cups to its trophy cabinet in an extraordinarily successful Dandenong and District Junior Football League grand final day on Sunday.
Neighbouring club Hampton Park also enjoyed a stunning weekend with two premierships – matching its haul from last year.
The two clubs shared the under-10 Red Division trophy after a thrilling contest that saw them locked at seven points apiece at the end of regulation time.
The Eagles reached seven deciders all up – almost double their previous best in a year of four – and club vice-president John O’Hehir said their success owed to much hard work.
“We’ve changed the whole structure of the club and we’ve probably made it more of an enjoyable place to play football,” he said.
“We did a presentation to the DDJFL last week about pushing ugly parents’ syndrome out of the club and we’re the leaders in pretty much all of Victorian football in that.
“I’ve never seen so many people in the place as there were on Sunday night when we did the awards – you couldn’t move down there.
“It’s stuff you don’t forget, especially for the kids … for them to be in that atmosphere is just fantastic.”
Cranbourne won the under-16 Division 2, the under-12 Red Division and under-10 Red Division flags.
O’Hehir was an assistant coach in the club’s under-12 team.
“We’re thinking this is just the start of it,” he said.
“I just want to congratulate the boys on all their hard work and we’d like to see them all come back next year, plus more, because we fielded 17 sides this year and we’re forecasting we’ll field 19 or 20 teams next year.”
O’Hehir also praised DDJFL officials for recognising both clubs as premiers in the drawn under-10 clash, saying it was ‘the best way of doing it’.
Hampton Park president Joanne Langley was equally pleased to see her players enjoy just as much success as some of the bigger clubs around the competition.
The Redbacks claimed the under-10 and under-11 Red Division pennants.
“We’re not a big club – we’ve only got eight teams – but we had five teams that made finals and it was really good to see three of them make grand finals,” she said. “We’ve actually been quite successful in the last five years … we’re a close-knit club and everyone knows each other and looks after each other.”
Langley was also thrilled to see the support for the club’s grand final sides.
“What was good on Sunday was that we had kids from age groups who didn’t make finals going to watch other games,” she said.
“I was quietly confident about the under-11s and 10s and I thought the under-15s might be able to get up there, but unfortunately injuries and stuff meant they couldn’t quite get there.
“But, as I said on Sunday night, they’ve done the club proud by getting there – there’s nothing to be ashamed off – and there’s a lot of kids and adults who’ve played junior and senior football who have never got to a grand final.”