Demons’ comeback win

Lismore-derrinallum produced a spirited comeback to beat Wickliffe-lake Bolac by 15 points in Mininera and District Football League’s grand final.

Wickliffe-lake Bolac went into Saturday’s final at Tatyoon as favourite after winning a semi-final and because of the way the Magpies had gone about their finals campaign.

But after the season that Lismore-derrinallum had experienced, the Demons were also going to be hard to beat.

Wickliffe-lake Bolac got a good start, kicking four straight goals to the Demons’ two and taking a twogoal lead into quarter time.

The Magpies continued to dominate in the second quarter, kicking 3.2, but two late goals to Lismore-derrinallum gave the Demons a sniff and although they went into half time 18 points in arrears, they were still in the hunt. In fact, the two late six-points represented the start of the Demons’ comeback.

It was in the third quarter that Lismore-derrinallum did the bulk of the damage, kicking 5.4 to the Magpies’ solitary point and seizing control.

The Demons secured a 15-point lead heading into the final term and while the opponents traded the same amount of goals and behinds for the quarter, the Demons held on to secure the victory.

League best and fairest Michael Lockyer was instrumental in the win, kicking four goals and winning a best-on-ground medal, while Jack Pitts received a Jim Knights memorial trophy.

The best efforts for the Magpies came from Michael Otto, Thomas Gibson, Chris Thornton, Bailey Veale, Bradley Keilar and Nathan Curtis, but the efforts were in vain.

For the premiers the best players, along with Lockyer and Pitts, included Tim Turner, James Halloran, Brandon Greenwood and Andrew Parkinson.

In the Reserves, SMW Rovers finished off a fantastic season, beating Glenthompson-dunkeld by 38 points.

Bulldogs player Tom Madden was best-on-ground in the grand-final victory.

In an under-16.5 final, Penshurst defeated Hawkesdale-macarthur by six points, with a Peter and Helen Brown medal for best on ground going to Jye Uebergang. An AFL medal went to Joshua Rentsch.