By LIAM TWOMEY
FOR the second successive year, the Western Region Football League grand final was decided by just one point with Deer Park handing Spotswood another dose of heartache.
The Woodsmen led the match by as much as 41 points midway through the second quarter, before a Deer Park revival kicked in.
At the 23-minute mark of the final term, Deer Park’s Kwame McHarg took a contested mark in the Lions’ forward line and kicked truly to draw the scores level at 99 all.
What followed was 240 seconds of exhilarating football as all 36 players on the ground put their bodies on the line in a desperate bid to give their side the edge.
It was the Lions though who were able to break the deadlock through a rushed behind.
Sixty seconds later, the siren rang out at Chirnside Park, and a sea of blue and gold descended onto the ground.
“When the siren went, I couldn’t believe it,” Deer Park coach Marc Bullen said.
“We weren’t in front all day. It doesn’t matter, they don’t pay out on margins.
“We have won the flag and I just want to do it all again. That is my focus. I want to celebrate and give the rewards to this footy club and the players that have worked their backsides off, but we are going to have a good few days.”
Shannon Broadbent was outstanding for the Lions and was awarded the Herb Pascarl Medal for the best player on the ground.
He was well supported by Heath Ayres and Kwame McHarg who both played some of their best footy when Deer Park looked down and out and something special was required.
“I don’t think we played that well early doors,” Bullen said.
“I have the belief in this playing group and the amount of work that we have done off the field and the experienced players that we have got in this side that have been to the well.
“We had a motto today, do it harder for longer … and I think it is just the inner belief in our guys that drove us there. I don’t think we played our best footy. I don’t think they played their best footy. It was just a war of attrition at the end of the day and we got on top.”
The 15.10 (100) to 14.15 (99) win is Deer Park’s first division one premiership since 1994.
Having played AFL football for Essendon and won suburban premierships at Maribyrnong Park, Bullen said there was something extra special about the Lions’ win.
“All the grand finals are great,” Bullen said.
“I had some terrific ones at Maribyrnong Park when we scraped across the line.
“To be captain/ coach in a first year, to be losing all day until the last 20 seconds of the game it is right up there. I have played at the highest level, I have had some lows in my footy career, but this is one of the best moments in my life.”
For Spotswood, it is the second successive year the club has lost the division one grand final by just one point after being beaten by Altona last season.
