Northern Football League

The first time these sides met was in Round 7, when Macleod took victory by one goal after scoring with just seconds left on the clock. Contrastingly, when they met in the Semi Finals just two weeks ago, Diamond Creek took the win by a staggering fourteen goals. So with one win a piece heading into the Grand Final, it was sure to be an exciting showdown.

Even in the pre-match warm up, the Diamond Creek players looked focused and ready to go. They performed their drills to perfection, which was in stark contrast to the Macleod team who were nonchalantly throwing the ball around in their goal circle.

It was clear, but not surprising, that nerves were affecting both teams' performance during the first term. The ball went astray on two separate occasions when Macleod failed to read the play. Diamond Creek struggled to shoot accurately at the beginning of the term, and their frustration was clear on their faces. However, they worked well as a team and moved the ball down the court quickly and effortlessly. Towards the end of the term, Diamond Creek began shooting accurately and scored consecutive goals within the final minutes of the quarter. This brought their tally to eight goals, while Macleod were hot on their heels with seven goals.

Players walked from the court after a rigorous and physically demanding first term, sweating and panting. As both teams were on a fairly even playing field in terms of skill, I wondered if it would become a test of endurance. Which team would be able to maintain this extraordinarily high standard for the full four quarters?

Macleod got off to a strong start, scoring within twenty seconds of the second quarter. Macleod played a slower paced game than their opponents, but this had no effect over how many goals they scored. Diamond Creek's defensive players were exceptional, intercepting passes and forcing their opponents to pass backwards. To their credit, Macleod stayed competitive and didn't allow this to overwhelm them. They showed great composure throughout the term, scoring under immense pressure. They broke away from Diamond Creek, scoring fourteen goals to their six goals. This gave Macleod a comfortable seven goal lead at the half time break. 

Diamond Creek knew they had to reduce Macleod's leading margin and they wasted no time, scoring within eleven seconds of the third term. Their shooters positioned themselves well in the goal circle and were on target the majority of the time. The team had great control of the ball and made few, if any, passing errors. Diamond Creek were impressive throughout the term, but Macleod refused to succumb, maintaining their lead by a small margin, Defensively, Macleod were very strong. They created havoc for their opponents by securing rebounds and intercepting passes. By the conclusion of the third term, Diamond Creek had reduced the margin to just two goals. The game had been blown wide open once again. And like all great finals, this match was to be decided in the final term. With only two goals separating the sides, either team were capable of taking out the premiership.

Diamond Creek scored the first goal of the term, reducing the margin to a single goal. They had amazing control of the ball and made strong passes into their goal circle. It's hard to imagine, but the pace picked up and the supporters got louder. Macleod made a number of valuable intercepts in their opponent's goal third and with approximately five minutes left on the clock, they had extended their lead to three goals. Diamond Creek went up a gear and were zig-zagging all over the court as the clock counted down and the pressure mounted. They made a number of errors within the final minutes of the term as the game began to slip away from them. Macleod's shooters remained accurate and on the odd occasion they missed, they secured the rebounds. By the end of the match, Macleod had extended their lead to seven goals.

The final score was Macleod (39) to Diamond Creek (32).

Both teams should be congratulated for playing such a highly skilled game and for providing spectators with such an entertaining match.

Congratulations to Macleod for winning the 2009 Section One Premiership title. A special mention must go to Macleod's Kelli Lambert for winning best on court.