Division Two Season
By Justin Lemmon
Michael Jordan believed that the reasons for his success lay in his failings, Babe Ruth played by the adage that each strikeout brought him closer to his next home run and Vince Lombardi stated that the only criteria for triumph was the will to try again after defeat. On the most part they are meaningless quotes best left reserved for office posters, but for the Parkside Football Club the underlying message speaks volumes.
Despite the Magpies dominant season, four Grand Final losses since 2009 would leave any club with doubts about their premiership chances – no matter how deep they were buried.
Even the most one eyed opposition supporter would admit that on paper this Parkside line up has the greatest depth of talent in Division Two, a Grand Final loss would speak more of their own mentality than the ability on display. In contrast West Footscray has come from the clouds after some strong off-season recruiting and internal development – the marked underdog with little expectation and nothing to lose.
Despite all the potential nerves and mental demons, after a frantic opening 10 minutes the game settled and it was the ever consistent Parkside – that we’ve grown so used to this year, on show. A five goal to none opening term in favour of the Magpies set the tone for what was a generally dominant performance. Adrian Gervasi was terrific off half back for the victors with his ball use while the ever reliable Magpies midfield of Chris Muratore, Michael Licciardo and Guy Barbuto were as industrious and creative as always.
West Footscray’s best patch of footy came late in the second term as three consecutive goals gave them a sniff heading into the long break despite the 24-point deficit. Big ruckman Michael Kennedy capped off his stellar year with a clear best on ground display. Kennedy was dominant in the air despite the Magpies midfield strength and his mobility around the ground allowed him to impact contest after contest in trademark fashion.
Despite heading into the long break with some momentum, the Magpies quickly reasserted themselves over West Footscray and pulled away in the second half with few challenges. It’s a credit to their evenness that their 14 goals were spread amongst ten goal kickers with no individual kicking more than two. The size of the margin meant no real scares were sent through the Parkside camp late and the Roosters mounted no challenge of enough note to claw back the expanding margin. The final siren brought a 38-point win for Parkside, scenes of jubilation mixed with no small amounts of relief and most importantly – another premiership cup to Parkside.
In the reserves Grand Final Wyndhamvale prevented Parkside doing the sweep with a hard fought 8-point win. Steven Soto was terrific for the victors, as was the only multiple goal kicker on the ground Todd Lawrie. Despite tasting defeat John Eastoe didn’t have his colours lowered for the Magpies.
The Werribee Districts young guns were on show defeating Newport by 30-points to grab their own piece of silverware in the under 18’s competition. Timothy Whiting showed that he’s one to watch in the future with a best on ground display for the victors while Daniel Kerriush finished off Werribee’s good work booting four goals.
Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinLemmon1
Last Modified on 08/09/2014 12:07