By Tara Murray
Thomastown has capped off a tremendous season to win the Northern Football League division 3 premiership.
The Bears, who lost just one game for the season, were at their clinical best at Epping on Saturday, defeating Reservoir, 17.16 (118) to
5.9 (39).
Thomastown’s only loss for the season came against the Mustangs earlier this year when
a poor first half forced them into playing
catch-up football.
The Bears ensured it wouldn’t happen this time, taking a 40-point lead into half-time.
Football manager Alex Velevski said the Bears went in with an aim to start well. They duly kicked five goals to two in the opening quarter and three to the Mustangs’ zero in the second term to seize control.
“We just knew that, on a big ground,
no one could keep with us in the second half,” Velevski said.
“They had a big side whereas we went in with an athletic team to outrun them.
“Our boys were pumped and they couldn’t go with us.”
The Bears booted the first two goals of the third quarter before the Mustangs finally got their third goal of the game.
But the Thomastown procession continued after that, the Bears kicking seven goals for the quarter to extend their lead to 64 points.
The margin could have been even greater as the Bears also kicked seven behinds for
the term.
“We knew the job wasn’t over at half-time and we had to keep the foot on the pedal,” Velevski said.
The contest sputtered out in the final quarter, with both teams finding it hard to make their way to goal, leaving the Bears to celebrate a memorable win.
“It was hard to score,’’ Velevski said. ‘‘The boys also got excited, as they knew we were going to win.”
Midfielder Matthew Cupo was awarded best- on-ground honours. Michael Khoury kicked four goals, with Jacob Osei-Duro and Dylan Fuller adding three each.
Velevski said Thomastown’s success this season had come as a surprise. “We knew as a club we’d have to step things up when [coach] Dean [Sinclair] returned at the start of the year.
“We got some good recruits to start the season with and everyone has put in to get back to division 2. We don’t want to be in division 3 ever again.”
Sinclair will guide the side in division 2 next year. Velevski said the Bears already had some new players from division 1 and 2 teams interested in joining the club for 2015.
For more pictures from the grand final, visit www.northern.starweekly.com.au.
