Gulls young guns stand tall to swoop on flag

BARWON Heads’ future appears rock solid after the Seagulls’ band of youngsters held their nerve against Geelong Amateur to win Saturday’s division two Colts premiership.

The ladder leaders absorbed the heat in the first half before running away in the final quarter to win 10.6 (66) to 6.9 (45).

For many of the players, there was a sense of redemption after losing a division two under-16 grand final to South Barwon in 2015.

Seagulls young gun Lachlan Hooper capped his outstanding season by kicking three goals to win the best-onground medal.

Will Ford also kicked three and Charlie Brauer went close to winning the medal after back-to-back weeks of impressive finals.

Geelong Amateur’s James Glover kicked two goals to be his side’s leading goalkicker, while Mason Spikers, across half-forward, was involved in plenty of forward chains.

Leading by just two points at quarter-time and half-time, the Seagulls shifted into top gear, slotting five goals to two after the main break.

“I think everybody was a bit nervous. You sort of feel each other out,” Barwon Heads Colts coach Sam Schaller said.

“After we absorbed the heat, we could get the game on our terms a little bit more than what they could.

“We just went and dumbed it down piece by piece, worked the ball forward and put their back six under as much pressure as you possible can.

“Obviously the game started to really open up (in the final term), guys started to get really tired. You’ve just got to keep going and going and that’s what we have prided ourselves on all year.”

It was the fourth time this year Hooper had been the Seagulls’ best player, and his best return in terms of goals in a game, proving he saved his best performance for last.

“We had a week off last week because we got up in the semi (final) against Ammos, so we just really focused on working hard at our game and just being able to go out here and leave nothing on the table,” Hooper said.

“I think we executed really well, putting lots of pressure on the other side.

“That was something we didn’t do very well in the first final (against Geelong Amateur) and that was really our main focus, just getting heaps of pressure on them and being able to get the footy and turn it over to use it our way.

“We lost one in under-16s with quite a few of us together and I’m just really proud of everyone and really happy that we could celebrate today and got the win.”