By Jonty Ralphsmith
Doveton scored the last four behinds of the game, and Chelsea Heights scored the last four goals.
That is what proved telling in the Doves falling two points short.
It was not as though they were overrun at Ben Kavanagh Reserve, or they could not halt a momentum swing, it is just that they could not kick one final goal which would have proved decisive.
Two of the behinds hit the post.
One behind was from Josiah Kyle, 15 metres out directly in front: “he kicks that 99 times out of 100,” coaching director Martin Stillman said.
Then, deep in stoppage time in the fourth quarter, to give Doveton the lead, Sam Muirhead, usually so reliable by foot, shanked a 30-metre kick out-on-the-full.
That frantic final quarter came after Doveton looked just about home.
Having kicked four goals for the afternoon against a team that defeated it by 93 points two weeks earlier, Chelsea Heights needed another four unanswered to win the game.
That was late in the third quarter.
“During the week I said to Michael Cardamone that if we can keep Chelsea Heights to eight goals for the game, I am confident we will win the game,” Stillman said.
On the three-quarter-time siren, Luke Tapscott kicked a goal which got Chelsea Heights up and about.
Tapscott was on the end of a huge hit in the first quarter, and Trent McMahon had been tagging him in the first half, before the Doves reverted him to a traditional small forward role wanting more scoring potency.
“Even though he kicked that goal, we kicked three in the third quarter when we had our traditional setup so I reflect on that and say it was a win for us,” Stillman said.
In the second half of the grand final with less than a kick in it, the two dominant sides went toe-to-toe backing in their respective systems.
Ruckman Dylan Chapman was on top all day for Doveton, but after half time was when the midfielders got more creative.
The risk-taking led to some more effective clearances, where Doveton was able to find space and inject pace into the game.
“We were just hitting the ball forward in the first half and needed to do something differently because of how good Chelsea Heights were defensively,” Stillman said.
After Doveton’s third-quarter surge, Chelsea Heights kicked three final quarter goals to edge ahead, making the most of their opportunities in a hotly contested, high-pressure game of football.
A low-scoring opening half put a premium on goals and made it a tense spectacle with both sides relentless at ground level.
Michael Cardamone was the only multiple goal scorer of the game with two of Doveton’s eight.
The player-coach said the result was shattering.
“We had our opportunities, that is the most disheartening thing,” Cardamone said.
“If we take one of those four opportunities, it is probably a different result.
“Sometimes you would rather lose by 10 goals than two points, but we know we left nothing in the tank, it is not like we didn’t perform on the day.
“I reckon if we played them 10 times, it would be five and five – unfortunately they got the chocolates on grand final day.”
Skipper Matt Stapleton, midfielder Jake Basa and livewire Josiah Kyle were among the best players for the Doves.
