Sweet victory

By Marc McGowan
ENDEAVOUR Hills footballer Ellie Blackburn played a pivotal role in Berwick’s Youth Girls grand final triumph over Noble Park at Casey Fields on Saturday.
The 14-year-old switched between the midfield and full-forward to win the best-on-ground medal as the Wickers won in a canter by 23 points.
Blackburn was also best afield in the South Eastern Youth Girls league’s victory in the AFL Victoria Metropolitan Junior Championships in June.
Berwick lost last year’s Youth Girls decider to Hallam after kicking 1.11 and having won every other match throughout the season.
But there were no such accuracy issues this time around, with the Wickers kicking truly on seven of their nine scoring shots.
Coach Cherie Charles was delighted with her team’s success.
“It’s very exciting, but it’s funny because last year I had a fantastic team, whereas this year we had only seven girls who had played football before,” she said.
“I think that’s made the win a bit sweeter.”
Berwick finished the home-and-away season third on the ladder with an 8-7 win-loss record, but upset the second-placed Narre South Lions by two points to advance to the grand final.
Top side Noble Park lost just three of its 15 matches in the regular season before beating Hallam by 19 points.
Blackburn, Tess Butler, Madison Grace Brownrigg and Mikaela Pancutt were the Wickers’ best, while Katie Turner kicked two majors.
Meanwhile, three locals won league best-and-fairest awards at the Dandenong and District Junior Football League’s under-10 to under-13 awards night last week.
Narre Warren’s Liam Myatt (under-12 Division One), Fountain Gate’s Reece Piper (under-11 Division One) and Narre South Lion Bryden Banks (under-10 Blue) came out on top in their respective divisions.
Piper also claimed the Lindsay Patching Memorial Medal for accumulating the most votes across all divisions.
The DDJFL grand finals are being held over six venues in Doveton, Hallam, Narre Warren South and Dandenong this Sunday.
Berwick, Narre Warren, Narre North Foxes and Endeavour Hills all have four representatives; Narre South Lions have two; and Hallam and Fountain Gate have one each.