By AKSHAY KAPADIA
ESSENDON Ford Division 1 Grand Final day with Craigieburn and Tullamarine going head to head.
Both very talented teams, and both capable of beating each other on their day.
The Grand Final was their fourth meeting this season with Craigieburn having a 2-1 advantage over Tullamarine, and the last time they met, Craigieburn beat Tullamarine in the second semi.
Last week Tullamarine fought off a very spirited Oak Park at Coburg City Oval, defeating them by one goal, the last score of the game.
That was a free kick to Jordan Port in the goal square. But this was a whole new challenge.
Tullamarine got the first centre clearance, and the first goal of the game, Daniel Devine finding the crumb at the throw in and giving them the lead.
But the rest of the quarter was all Craigieburn, kicking the next five out of six goals for the quarter to take a 19-point lead at the first break.
Both teams had their opportunities in the first quarter.
Craigieburn were able to make the most of them, while Tullamarine kept falling short.
A loose man in the defensive goal square saved numerous goals throughout the day.
In the second quarter it was a much different game. Tullamarine came out with more fire and made use of their opportunities.
They clawed their way back into the game, kicking four goals to two and leaving only a four-point deficit at the long break.
But the break didn’t do Tullamarine any good.
Craigieburn pushed their lead out as they seemed to find it very easy to find the goals.
Again, Tullamarine continued to struggle to make the distance to the goal, falling short of the goal on a number of occasions.
They also found it difficult to hit key targets in the forward line, not being able to mark the ball inside the forward 50, meaning they were forced to do a lot of crumbing off the ground
Craigieburn kicked the first two goals of the last quarter and the game looked pretty much over.
Justin Marcy got one back for Tullamarine soon after, before two goals to Craigieburn gave them a 38-point lead late in the game.
Tullamarine then made the most of junk time.
They finished with the last three goals of the game.
Craigieburn prevailed as 20-point winners in the end and are now back part of Strathmore Community Bank Premier Division.
The Clokes ended up with seven goals between them for the game and they looked unstoppable up forward.
Jack Sims was the only multiple goal scorer for the Demons.
Ryan Bongetti, who did not play in the second semi, was outstanding through the middle walked away with the David McWilliam Medal as best-on-ground.
CRAIGIEBURN | 15.10-100
Goal Kickers: J. Cloke 4, C. Cloke 3, S. Laffan 3, G. Robertson 2, J. Young, R. Bongetti, A. Loizou
Best Players: G. Heenan, R. Bongetti, J. Cloke, J. Page, C. McErlain, B. Gordon
TULLAMARINE | 12.8-80
Goal Kickers: J. Sims 2, W. Becker, A. Bartrop, J. Flanigan, J. Burns, C. Burns, J. Marcy, D. Simmons, D. Brockway, A. Liberatore, D. Devine
Best Players: D. Scott, D. Simmons, J. Burns, D. Bartrop, J. Sims, N. Tieppo
