It’s the one that got away for Westmeadows as it suffered a second straight Essendon District Football League division 2 grand final loss.
After surprising many last season in making the decider, the Tigers had set their sights on that one day in September early on as they tried to break a 41-year premiership senior premiership drought.
It made it back there, with Rupertswood this time standing in the way of premiership success.
The match was a low scoring arm wrestle that went down to the dying minutes.
For the Tigers an early last quarter lead evaporated as the Sharks came over the top to win, 8.13 (61)-8.10 (58).
Tigers coach Ash Flavel said this one hits a lot harder than last year.
“This one really hurt,” he said. “I knew we were a bit off from the start of the game.
“There were tricky conditions.
“We were fumbling the ball and were missing targets. It’s that one that got away.”
The Tigers led by three points at quarter time before the Sharks had a seven point lead at half time.
The Tigers outscored the Sharks in the breeze in the third quarter but with a one point lead had their work cut out for them.
They led by 13 points early in the last quarter.
Flavel said they felt if they could have scored one more goal they would have been able to shut the game down.
The Sharks though kept coming and the Tigers were starting to lose soldiers. Ryan Stingel, the hero the last time these two teams met, came off after a heavy collision holding his shoulder.
He later received medical treatment from ambulance officers.
Marcus Mammoliti was struggling with a hamstring and they were left with two guys on the bench.
“I don’t know what happened,” Flavel said. “They went bang, bang in that breeze in the last quarter.
“It wasn’t the grand final we expected and credit to them, they deserved it.
“We were down to two players on the bench but we still should have got the job done, but we didn’t want it enough.”
Tigers co-captain Ryan Capron was awarded the Ian Price Medal by the umpires as the player adjudged best on ground.
Flavel said it showed the evenness of Rupertswood’s performance.
He said it wasn’t the medal the skipper had been wanting.
While the Tigers fell short for a second straight season, Flavel said he was still so proud of what they had been able to achieve.
“I’m proud of their efforts,” he said. “If you get there you want to win it as it’s hard enough to get there.
“They’ve had a good year and to win 10 in a row, you could not have asked for more in a strong competition.
“It’s a lot to win one and nothing is guaranteed next year. Sides will come for us and sides will recruit well and step it up.”
Flavel said the majority of the list would be back again next year and they would look to add a few more players to strengthen their squad.
