SEAGULLS TAKE FLIGHT
AN ice-cold Dylan McDougall helped North Shore pull off a stunning grand final boilover, upsetting Modewarre by one point at The Gordon TAFE Oval yesterday.
McDougall kicked a goal from 25m out — his fourth after half-time — with about a minute remaining to give the Seagulls a thrilling 8.6 (54) to 8.5 (53) win in the under-19 Division 3 decider.
It was North Shore’s first third-grade flag since 1992.
The Warriors had lost just one home-and-away game heading into yesterday’s grand final and led the contest by 26 points at half-time.
But McDougall, who had hardly played a minute of game time in the first half, caught fire when his team needed him, kicking two majors in the third term and two in the fourth to guide his team to a famous win.
“He only spent a few minutes on the ground in the first half. He gave me the call at three-quarter time and said, ‘I’m on’,” North Shore coach Brad McDougall said.
D. McDougall 4, R. Leech 2, B. McNaughton, C. Hucklebridge.
T. O’Hanlon 2, T. Kahle, W. Fraser, K. Reech, C. McKim, B. Collins, L. McElhinney.
A. Deng, D. Williams, D. McDougall, B. Tregenza, C. Hucklebridge, R. Leech. T. O’Hanlon, L. McElhinney, Z. Gillies, W. Fraser, N. Matthews.
“Throughout the year he played that impact role and it showed today. He bobbed up when he needed to and kicked a couple of vital goals.”
The Seagulls started the better of the two sides, leading the contest by six points at quarter-time.
But Modewarre got a foothold after the first break and shot away with a dominant second quarter.
The Seagulls managed to reel the margin back in during the third term. But they were still 14 points behind heading into the final quarter.
McDougall said his message at half-time was for his players to just “stick to the task”.
“We’ve had three weeks where we have scrapped,” he said. “Last week in the prelim we were four goals down at quarter-time and they showed resilience and they responded.
“That was the message at half-time and they did fantastic after half-time just to stick to the task.”
Seagull Abwi Deng was named best on ground for his performance in the ruck in the premiership win, the youngster earning a little bit of redemption after turning up to last week’s preliminary final late.
“He rocked up 10am last week, late,” McDougall said.
“Previously when we played Modda, I thought he played his best half even though they beat us quite comfortably.
“I didn’t think they had a real big ruckman and we made sure he knew that at the start of the game.
“He tends to grab the ball out of the ruck and it worked today. Again, full credit to him.”
The victory caps an incredible finals series for North Shore, who completed an almost impossible task of winning the flag from fifth place at the end of the home-and-away season.
The Seagulls only just snuck into the finals after losing their final two games, but played a month of outstanding footy in the finals to rocket into the seasondecider.
“We came home with a wet sail, basically. We got it right at the right end of the year and that’s what you’ve got to do,” McDougall said.
“Full credit to all my boys, they stuck to the task. We had some ups and downs throughout the year and it paid off.”
The premiership win gives North Shore a sweet taste to finish 2019, with its seniors and reserves enduring winless seasons.
“We’ve had our ups and downs and this is massive for us, absolutely massive. You u can’t underestimate that,” McDougall said.