By Marcus Uhe
Emerald, Gembrook Cockatoo and Pakenham all entered the final round of the Outer East Football Netball Premier Division football season as eager to know the outcomes of each other’s games as it was to secure the four points themselves.
Gembrook Cockatoo needed Pakenham to lose, Pakenham needed Emerald to lose and Emerald needed Gembrook Cockatoo to lose, such were the machinations and permeations surrounding the complex and contested battle to steer clear of 11th place.
Emerald, however, had the biggest assignment of anyone, needing to make up four points to force the three-way tie.
History will look back favourably on the Bombers’ second half of the year, finishing with a 3-2 win-loss record in the final five games to dig themselves out of a major hole.
The finishing touches came against Berwick Springs on Saturday, the Titans’ final in the Outer East competition before departing for the Southern Football Netball League, and a rematch of the 2023 Division One grand final.
The Bombers were charged and ready to go midway through the final quarter of the reserves game unfolding beforehand, and took the pent up energy in the opening few minutes.
The Bombers were desperate for history to repeat from last year, and despite a considerable possession advantage, failed to turn it into scores.
Too often the critical kick into the centre of the ground coming out of the back half or inside 50 brought them unstuck, resulting in a series of turnovers and the game resembling circle work.
Jake Cawsey showed his class with a textbook front-and-centre crumb, and his brother Dylan found young Hendrix Boyle for the Bombers’ second goal of the game, with alarm bells ringing for the Titans in the coach’s box early.
Around the grounds, a shoot-out was unfolding at Upwey Tecoma between the Tigers and the Brookers, locked at five goals apiece at the first break, while Woori Yallock had a slender lead against Pakenham at Toomuc Reserve, missing chances in the wind.
Back at Emerald, dominance in the centre of the ground had the Titans defenders fighting for survival in the second term, and Noah van Haren would eventually capitalise on Dylan Cawsey’s forward pressure to put his side 21-points ahead, with Berwick Springs not looking like scoring.
They eventually broke through thanks to Kayden Buselli, who took the chance to return fire to the Emerald reserves providing the atmosphere on the sidelines.
Bombers defender Brendan Wilson left his opponent in an attempt to impact a contest further afield, but failed to do so, and the resulting scramble to cover the Titans forwards saw Buselli sneak free, and convert a set shot.
Kai Maas then made it two in a minute, cutting the lead to 10 points, but goals to Jake Cawsey and Josh Rich before the half restored a 22-point buffer.
Emerald was in control of the game at the break, but lost Adrian Russo during the quarter with what appeared to be a shoulder injury, and knew it would have a fight on its hands in the second half.
Of secondary concern were the efforts of Gembrook Cockatoo, who took the lead over Upwey Tecoma on the stroke of half time through a pair of goals in 90 seconds, from Caleb Crestani and Aaron Firrito.
Pakenham too was hanging around with Woori Yallock, with both sides goalless in a testing second quarter.
The third quarter, colloquially known as the premiership quarter, would take on just as much significance, but with a drastically different metaphorical consequence.
All three contests saw significant swings in momentum in various capacities, with major influences on the final outcome.
Gembrook Cockatoo playing coach Michael Firrito was sent off for abusing an umpire, and the game slipped out of the Brookers’ grasp in concert with the decision.
Upwey Tecoma kicked six-goals-to-two in the pivotal term, to lead by 28 points at the final break, and Woori Yallock found its radar, kicking four goals to Pakenham’s solitary major to move 32-points clear after three quarters.
Emerald, meanwhile, was not living up to its end of the bargain, with David Johnson’s surprise move to the backline seeing him caught in unfamiliar territory, and Oskar Knight cutting the lead 15 early in the term.
Opportunities from directly in front to Ewan Wadsworth and Jake Cawsey, among others, were squandered, as groans intensified and murmurs became grumbles among the red and black faithful.
The returning Adrian Russo, however, provided the cool head the situation required, and broke the game open with two goals in 60 seconds.
He was the beneficiary of the Bombers suffocating the ground in the back half and the forward 50 pressure of Jared Dersken and Jake Cawsey, nailing a vital set shot in front of the grand stand to calm the nerves of the faithful.
He then found himself on the end of a centre clearance and put his side 31 points clear halfway through the term, as floodgates threatened to open for the Titans.
Buselli’s second goal put a momentary stop to momentum, but a pair of goals to Jake Cawsey and Mitch Thomas restored the Bombers’ momentum, as they took a 38-point lead into the last quarter.
Emotions boiled over in the final term as Aiden Gajanovic was dumped in a dangerous slinging tackle and hostilities intensified on both sides of the fence, with Emerald’s lubricated reserves offering plenty of feedback in their clown suits.
Seven goals each way in the final term saw the final margin settle at 41 points at Emerald, 16.15 111 to 11.4 70, meaning its side of the equation was complete.
News filtered through of Pakenham’s demise shortly after, the Lions falling 46 points short, 5.6 46 to 11.16 82, and finally the score from Upwey drew the biggest roar of the afternoon at Chandler Reserve, with the Brookers finishing 41-points adrift of Upwey Tecoma, 19.14 128 to 13.9 87.
The final outcome saw Pakenham in the dreaded 11th place, while Gembrook Cockatoo and Emerald would live on to fight another year in the top division.
Emotions were aligned for both David Johnson and Michael Firrito, a mixture of pride and relief, having had their future secured on the back of corresponding results, and defying the odds to stay in Premier Division.
After beginning the season 0-5 coming off the triumphs of 2023 and entering the long weekend bye at 1-7, Johnson said he could pinpoint a moment he felt the season turned its course.
“I remember sitting in the change rooms on the Thursday night before the bye, we had a good chat and said ‘this is what we need to do to keep ourselves up in Premier.’” Johnson recalled.
“The big one was, start winning games, which obviously helps, but also (making a) commitment to training, getting up for a Thursday night meal, getting around each other and making the team buy more into it than just footy, instead of rock up on a Saturday, play footy and just move on.
“I think we came into the season thinking it was just going to happen, and unfortunately we got shown how to play footy for the first four/five weeks.
“I think the damage was done there because we probably didn’t prepare throughout the preseason for what we were up against.
“Coming into next year we’re really going to learn from our mistakes.”
Firrito, meanwhile, felt the acute pinch of pressure later in the season, having been sent from the field in a critical loss against the Bombers in what was dubbed at the time, the ‘Relegation Cup.’
His Brookers would go on to lose the contest, leaving it in prime position to fall back down to Division One, but responded the following week with an upset win over Officer that in effect saved their season.
Firrito said he was unaware of the scores in the corresponding clashes until three-quarter-time, having had enough problems to solve of his own at Upwey, and admitted that relying on other teams was not how he wanted the team’s future to be confirmed, but was happy to reap the benefits.
“I said all along that I thought we’ve got enough talent in our squad,” he said.
“It will take a little while, and whilst our form in the second half of the year was better, I’m still a competitive person and always want better.
“Hopefully we can hit the ground running next year.
“I said ‘things are going against us at the moment but your real character shines through in adversity and tough times’, and their response (against Officer) was awesome.
“It wasn’t conventional but I’m certainly relieved and looking forward to next year already. “
With the three critical results decided, the remainder of the contests mattered little the outcome of the finals mix.
Five goals to Jesse Davies and an 11-goal second half saw the Magpies handle Mt Evelyn by 65 points, 17.9 111 to 6.6 42 while Wandin also turned up for its September campaign with an important win over Olinda Ferny Creek by 52 points on the road, 18.14 122 to 10.10 70, becoming just the second team to beat the Bloods on their home turf this year.
Monbulk, meanwhile, led from start to finish to end Daniel Charles’ tenure as senior coach with a 19-poiont win over Monbulk at Monbulk, 11.12 78 to 9.5 59.
The win meant the Kangaroos finished seventh, just three points back from Mt Evelyn in sixth place, and adds further intrigue to the decision to part ways with Charles after such a promising year back in Premier Division.
