BITS Saints have been crowned 2008 Trend Interiors AFL Capricornia Premiers after defeating rivals Panthers in the Grand Final. The Saints buried the bad memories of last year’s loss winning by 33 points. Rockhampton Cricket Ground was looking beautiful after being soaked the Friday before the game. It was always going to be hard for the Panthers after star on-baller Lyle Clifford pulling out due to a knee injury. Captain Clinton Evans also struggled throughout the game with a knee injury leaving the Panthers midfield short of quality players.
The Saints started of the game with a bang kicking the opening four goals of the game with the Boase brothers leading the charge. Panthers managed to steal a few late goals in the first to be down by only two goals at the first break. The Saints continued their good form dominating the second quarter to have a comfortable lead going into half-time. To Panthers credit they never let the Saints get away to a big lead with consistent tackling pressure. In the end the Saints were too good for the Panthers winning 14.7.91 to 8.10.58. Ruckman Danny Anderson was good for the Saints after coming back from a shoulder injury. Hayden Coleman, Ricky McClure and Alex Totten were also named as best players for the Saints by coach Alan Watkins. Dan Shipard also had a great game at Full-Back keeping Panthers in form forward Chris Heaslip to one goal, while BITS Saints key forward Scott Muller was leading goal kicker for the day with four goals. Best on ground went to Daniel Boase who dominated through the middle with plenty of run. For the Panthers Marcus Britt, Ben Kneen and Liam Kronk tried hard all day in trying conditions. In a sad note AFL Capricornia and BITS Saints legend Darren Boase played his last game in the region and was happy to go out on a winning note.
In other results on Grand Final day the BITS Saints capped of a great day taking out both the Reserve Grade and U/17 Premierships to go with the A-Grade. The Saints won a close one in the Reserve Grade 13.8.86 to 12.7.79. It was a close last quarter in the Reserve Grade with Panthers taking the lead early in the quarter. Daniel Palmer, Sean McClure and Jacob Mills were outstanding for the Saints while Herbie Anderson, Matt Hellyer and the Cooper brothers tried hard for the Panthers. In the U/17 the Saints were too good for Brothers getting up by 21 points. In other Junior results the Gladstone Mudcrabs were to good for the Yeppoon Swans in the U/15’s while the Yeppoon Swans were successful in the U/13’s against a competitive BITS Saints.
Last Modified on 02/02/2009 13:20