Lancaster’s Nicholas Ryan tackles Shepparton East’s. Thomas McClusky.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Lancaster's defensive unit was again led by the "general", Phil Carroll.
Lancaster’s four-year reign as the top-ranked Kyabram District League football team ended at Tallygaroopna on Saturday when Shepparton East came from the clouds to win by a point.
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The Wombats, premier of both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, finished the season second on the ladder to Murchison-Toolamba and was completely outplayed in week one of the finals (losing by 43 points).
They hit the ground running in the preliminary final against the Eagles, the leg speed of inclusion Daniel Foley impacting immediately on the opportunities that were presented to its forwards.
The result was a 20-point quarter time lead, an advantage the Wombats held at half time despite Shepparton East kicking with the wind in the second term.
By three quarter time the Wombats were still in charge, but the Eagles had cut the margin to 13 points after kicking three goals at the non-scoring end of the ground in the third term.
END OF AN ERA
2021
Lancaster finished on top of the ladder, winning all 11 games before the finals were abandoned due to COVID.
2022
Lancaster finished third at the end of the home and away season, losing the qualifying final to Murchison-Toolamba by 17 points before beating Nagambie by 18 points and Stanhope by a goal in a thrilling preliminary final. The Wombats won the grand final against Murchison-Toolamba 6.10 (46) to 5.6 (36).
2023
Lancaster finished second with a 14-2 win/loss record, but won straight through to the grand final with a 26-point win against Nagambie. A fortnight later they won the grand final by 65 points, also against the Lakers.
2024
Lancaster finished second to Murchison-Toolamba, which drew with both the Wombats and third-ranked Shepparton East. The Wombats were then knocked out in straight sets, losing by 43 points to the Grasshoppers in the qualifying final and by one-point to Shepparton East in the preliminary final at Tallygaroopna.
Logan Demasi was outstanding across half back on Saturday against the dangerous Shepparton East forward line.
They maintained that momentum with the aid of the breeze in the final term and eventually took the thrilling game 11.6 (72) to 10.11 (71).
Lancaster kicked six behinds in the final term as Shepparton East kicked five goals to charge home for victory, the first time it had beaten the Wombats this season.
In round two this season Lancaster was a 37-point winner and in the final round of the home and away season the Wombats beat the Eagles by four points in another thriller.
That game offered a sign of things to come as it followed a very similar script to the preliminary final - Lancaster leading by 40 points at half time and by 56 points at the final change before Shepparton East kicked nine goals to one in the final term.
That may have given the Eagles the confidence to do what they did in the second half of Saturday’s preliminary final.
Nick McAuliffe has faced some of the biggest challenges in the KDL in recent weeks, taking on man mountain Jake Sutherland.
Foley and Kyle Kydd came into the Lancaster line-up to replace Tannar Cerrone and Paul Newman.
It was a far different looking Shepparton East team from the one that lost to Lancaster in that round 16 match, with co-captain Adam Fichera back in the team along with goalkickers Jayden Dhosi and Hysen Ismet.
Fichera was a key player in the comeback, among six individual goalkickers as only Dylan Webster-Mill and Jake Sutherland managed multiple goals.
For Lancaster it was only Morrie Serra and co-captain Charlie McLay who offered a conduit to goal. They were responsible for eight of the Wombats’ 10 goals, Serra kicking six in an outstanding display and finishing with 23 goals from his eight games for the season.
Since returning in round 11 he averaged more than three goals a game, while McLay had been playing up the ground before his move back to the goalsquare on Saturday.
He started the season at full forward, kicking 33 goals in the opening nine rounds before the arrival of Newman to the goalsquare.
Lancaster defender Logan Demasi almost single handedly kept the Wombats’ nose in front for the first three terms, along with hard bodied midfielders Lachlan Boscarini and Cameron Simpson.
Boscarini and Simpson were part of the fruitful partnership with Northern Football League club Northcote Park, which also brought forward Jake Mills to the club.
Boscarini missed most of the season through injury, but was outstanding in both the Wombats finals matches. He played only seven games for the season, interestingly five of those against the top two teams (Murchison-Toolamba and Shepparton East).
Winger Riley O’Neill was one of few four-quarter winners for his team as the Wombats bowed out of not only the senior premiership hunt, but also the race for the reserve grade title.
Shepparton East has played Murchison-Toolamba only once this season, in round 12, when it produced a similar come from behind result to tie the game on 9.6 (60) apiece.
Murchison-Toolamba led by 17 points at three quarter time, before Shepparton East kicked four of its nine goals in the final term.
James Lloyd, who has 133 goals to his credit going into the grand final, kicked just three goals. That is his equal lowest return of the season.
The star full forward has bags of 10, 11, 12, 14 and 19 to his credit this season. He will be keen to atone for the 2022 grand final, played in drenched conditions, when he kicked just one goal.
Shepparton East has not played in a Kyabram District League grand final since rejoining the competition in 2019. The club did win four straight flags from 1958-1961, the last two of those being in the current KDL.
Murchison’s last premiership win was in 2013 when it beat Stanhope by 31 points.
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