Striker goes the extra to seal win
SOME of the most dramatic theatre in the North Queensland Premier League transpired in the season’s final game, with a Saints Eagles Souths junior hanging up his boots in style.
Campbell Hume had achieved plenty in his final campaign, helping the club to its first premiership courtesy of his Golden Boot-winning efforts.
And it was his crucial brace in extra time that broke MA Olympic’s hearts and delivered Saints their first title double with a 4-1 win.
Now he has a triple in his sights with this weekend’s Crad Evans Shield.
“He’s got a young family now, so I think he’s trying to turn his attention to something more family oriented,” Saints skipper Corey Waples said.
“It’s the perfect way for him to go out, he’s been a big factor getting the Golden Boot for the season, and he’s scored ample goals in the finals series.
“I would personally put him man of the match for the game, he’s been a very big member of our squad.
“Campbell’s been around the same club from day one with it all, it’s a really big positive thing for him.”
It took until the final five minutes for the premiership winners to break a nil-all deadlock, but the near impenetrable defence that had been
the hallmark of their season faced one last test.
With 12 seconds remaining, Mundingburra kept its hopes of back-to-back grand final wins alive off a late corner, giving 2020 a thrilling twist to close out a bizarre year.
Saints heads dropped momentarily – had they let the chance at history slip?
But Waples said that was not the character of his squad.
They had suffered a rare loss to their Saturday rivals in week one of the finals, and that was motivator to ensure they did not let their past success hinder future ambitions.
“We’re a resilient bunch and it just shows what character we have at our club,” he said.
“We definitely went the hard road but it could be a blessing in disguise, we didn’t get a chance to be complacent.
“We’ve broken a couple of records this year, first time we’ve won the premiership and first for the double.
“Next weekend we’ve got the chance to do the triple, and there’s only a handful of clubs who have done that.”