Football: Dockers grab flag

The Secret Harbour Dockers have capped off a stellar season by winning the Mercantile Football League Division 1 Premiership flag in their first year of the competition.

Picture by Picture that Photography: A jubilant Dockers team celebrate the win.

The Dockers kicked 16.11 (107) to 12.8 (80) to ruin Osborne Park’s day out at Kingsway Reserve.

The big crowd was treated to a highquality, hard-fought game right through to the dying minutes.

The Dockers goaled early in the first term and again after the siren, with Osborne Park scoring their single goal midterm in a typical grand final game where match-ups denied open play.

A highlight of the term came from Dockers’ captain Al McDonald with his strong overhead marking at both ends of the ground.

The second term saw the Dockers kick two early goals and it looked like they were starting to find some space.

But to Osborne Park’s credit, they tightened up and restricted the Dockers to just one more major for the term,while kicking two goals themselves.

The game was played predominantly between the two half-back lines, reflected in the scores at the main break—5.8 (38) to Osborne Park’s 3.4 (22).

The Dockers were punished by a rejuvenated Osborne Park in the third quarter, who kicked the first goal in under a minute.

But while taking thegame awayfrom the Dockers, they didn’t get scoreboard results for their efforts.

The Dockers’ Ryan Casson then kicked two goals from the boundary and a third from a 50m penalty.

The Dockers led 11.8 (74) to 8.6 (54) at the last change.

The warm day had taken its toll on many players, and although tightly fought, the game had opened up, with both teams able to get some good run.

Two goals mid-term saw Osborne Park get within two kicks of the Dockers, before conceding another 50m penalty and giving Steven Nunn an easy goal from the edge of the goal square.

Dean Hunter helped break the fightback with a series of ferocious tackles, which left the wing closest to the crowd resembling a battlefield.

The Dockers then kicked another two goals to win by 27 points.

Dockers coach Mark Pink was ecstatic with the win after what has been a huge task in getting the Dockers’ first seniors and colts teams up and running this season.

Pink, who has experience over a dozen grand finals, said this was a typical grand final where the pressure of the game affected players differently, with those who harnessed nervous energy best able to perform when it counted.

Best-on-ground medal winner was McDonald, playing in his first-ever grand final.