AFL North Coast’s junior champions crowned

The Bellingen Bulldogs Youth Girls 17s celebrate their grand final win. Photo credit: Green Shoots Marketing.

AFL North Coast’s best junior teams have been crowned during a super Sunday of grand finals at Ce.x Coffs International Stadium.

The Bellingen Bulldogs and Sawtell/Toormina Saints Youth Girls 17s played off in a thrilling premiership decider which had the crowd on the edge of their seats, as the game came down to the final thrilling minutes.

The Bulldogs claimed the premiership cup with a two-point win in a final quarter full of drama befitting of a close grand final.

Down by 12 at half-time, the Saints took control in the premiership quarter to take a 3-point lead into three quarter time, setting up a grandstand finish.

The premiership could have easily gone either way as the lead changed hands three times, and it was a Bulldogs comeback from 9 points down with 9 minutes remaining which would see them prevail by 2 points to win a grand final for the ages.

Bulldogs coach Aidan Burger said the premiership decider could have gone either way.

“Everything was on the line and we came out on top, and I think if it went a few more minutes then we could have lost,” he said.

“A lot of people are saying it’s the best game they’ve ever seen, and it was two evenly matched teams playing really good, fair footy.”

The Bulldogs coach explained the difficult circumstances his side had faced this season.

“We did not play one game all season at home due to the floods, and we played our home games at Mylestom,” he said.

“Our first game at Burdett Park was the semi-final the week before, and we couldn’t even train at our grounds for half the season, and we had to train at an undercroft at Bellingen Primary School.

“It’s unbelievable where we’ve come from to where we ended up.”

The Bellingen Bulldogs also won the Youth Girls 14s premiership, beating the Coffs Harbour Breakers by 23 points in their grand final.

The Bulldogs were the inaugural Youth Girls 14s premiership winners, with the competition having made its debut this season.

The Port Macquarie Magpies also made it a premiership double, winning both the under 11s and under 13s grand finals.

The Port Macquarie Flyers won their inter-club derby beating the Port Macquarie Swoopers by 46 points to claim the under 11s flag.

The Port Macquarie Flyers won a 3-point thriller against the Nambucca Valley Lions to win the under 13s premiership.

The Nambucca Valley Lions won the under 15s premiership in dominant style beating the Port Macquarie Swoopers by 49 points.

By Aiden BURGESS

Leave a Reply

Top