Lemi Faimoa is shattered after the Hills grand final loss against Footscray at Box Hill on Saturday.By Justin Robertson
FOR Endeavour Hills it was heartbreak as Footscray completed the perfect season undefeated with 17 wins and the Division Two A Grade premiership.
Despite a competitive second half by the Endeavour Hills rugby team, they never quite got going and were unable to stop Footscray’s rampaging forwards as they charged away to win 31-18 at Sparks Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
As the red, blue and white cheered, sang, pumped their fists and lined up for their premiers photographs, the Hills players looked on despondent and were left wondering what happened.
Hills coach Archie Kennedy was disappointed with ending the year as runners-up but applauded his team for a season well played.
“To get here was such a great achievement and I just want to thank you boys for a terrific season,” he said after the game as his players sat in a circle peeling tape off their legs and looking toward the ground.
In front of hundreds of supporters bearing maroon, white and black colours, The Hills got off to the perfect start converting a penalty within the first five minutes, but it was all Footscray after that as they piled on the next 17 points.
A late Hills try and conversion cut the score to 17-10, but a quick Footscray reply left a gaping 22-10 score line at the main break.
A relatively calm Kennedy summoned his troops in a tight circle and talked about believing in each other and said his men were still in the game.
“We just have to control play and keep the ball, if we have possession they can’t do anything with it,” he said at halftime. “We just have to believe we can do this, I know you can do it boys.”
In a much competitive second half which saw the Hills dominate the first 20 minutes of play, they were unable to cash in on the scoreboard and missed several penalty shots at crucial stages losing the half 8-9. “Yeah, played a lot better in the second half, but really the boys should have been playing like that from the start – with that same intensity,” he said. “It would have been good to win today but I’m happy with the year we’ve had.”
