Sport
22 September, 2023
Ararat responds for premiership victory
Ararat have ended their 22 year premiership drought with a 21 point win over the Southern Mallee Giants at the Dimboola Recreation Reserve on Saturday. Kicking with a four goal breeze in the first quarter the Giants started out the game the same...
Ararat have ended their 22 year premiership drought with a 21 point win over the Southern Mallee Giants at the Dimboola Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
Kicking with a four goal breeze in the first quarter the Giants started out the game the same manner as two weeks ago with a flying start.
Josh Webster got a lot of important touches up forward which resulted in the first goal of the game from point-blank range.
He was instrumental in the second goal of the game two minutes later. He dropped a mark but followed up with pressure keeping the ball in the goal square which resulted in a free kick and a goal to Rupert Sangster which gave them a 14 point lead.
The Rats started to settle a bit holding the ball and kicking it short around the ground. Tex Korewha rewarded their work by taking a great mark inside 50 which resulted in their first goal of the game.
A couple minutes later Kieran Delahunty took a great mark and converted to bring the margin back out to 14 points.
The Giants were on top moving the ball quick. The Rats kept fumbling a lot and the Giants capitalised on the mistakes with Webster kicking his second at the 16 minute mark. Five minutes later Jackson Fisher kicked an excellent goal from outside 50 which handed the Giants a 26 point lead at quarter time.
The Giants had 15 inside 50’s that quarter to 5 and were dominant around the ground. The positive for the Rats that quarter was they won the clearances 4 to 3 and needed to continue that in the second quarter to get back into the game and that they did.
It was a different Ararat in the second quarter. They settled and were composed and started to get on top through the middle with Cody Lindsay getting on top in the ruck. They kicked three behinds before they got their first goal of the quarter through Jacob Bates at the 9 minute mark.
Jack Ganley responded a couple minutes later to bring the margin back to 9 points and when Korewha kicked his second the margin was 3 points. Tom Mills gave them the lead at the 16 minute mark and the Giants were stunned.
The Giants spent the next few minutes getting the ball and were fighting hard to get the game back on their terms. They had a rare inside 50 but couldn’t capitalise and were punished straight away with Korewha kicking his third goal of the game.
Ben Taylor had a big quarter the Rats through the midfield and was rewarded from his hard work with a goal late in the quarter to give the Rats a 15 point lead at half time.
The Giants needed a big third quarter with the wind and they lifted and started to get the ball on their terms. They had a few opportunities to get a major and finally managed one through Rupert Sangster with a brilliant goal from the boundary.
That was the only goal scored for the quarter. The Giants were on top but just couldn’t use the conditions to their advantage kicking 9 behinds that quarter to 3 to trail by 3 points at the last break.
The Giants battled hard and didn’t give up after looking down and out at three quarter time. Both teams had their chances early in the quarter but it was the Rats kicking the first through Sonny Kettle, whom was rewarded for his hard work to extend their margin to 10 points.
The Giants responded hard and started to get a few inside 50’s and win clearances but didn’t take their chances kicking four behinds. Tom Mills kicked the last two goals of the game to guide Ararat to a 10.13.73 to 6.16.52 victory.
Daniel Mendes was awarded the Greg Binns Medal for best on ground whilst Henry Shea won the Worksafe AFL Victoria Best on Ground Medal for an under 21 player.
Ararat coach Matt Walder said there was mixed emotions after the game.
“To be honest it’s a bundle of emotions. It’s a sense of relief and excitement. The boys thoroughly deserved the win,” Walder said.
“To bounce back from two weeks ago was a huge credit to the boys. They never stopped believing and they knew what they had to do to win and they executed that.”
With the game in the balance at three quarter time and having the wind in the last quarter Walder said his message was to continue to work hard.
“The message was don’t wait for someone else to do it. The wind isn’t going to kick goals for you. We have to finish it off and the boys had to want it more than anyone else. We knew the Giants would come hard and they did and the boys were tough and stood tall.”
“The Giants were a tough opponent. They came at us and gave it their all and it is a credit to them, they never gave up,” Walder said.
Walder said that it was a team effort and that everyone played their role. He also thanked their supporters for turning up in droves and supporting the team.
“The support was brilliant. To see the red and white around the ground just gave them that little extra incentive to know that people are there to watch them play and we can’t thank those supporters enough,” Walder concluded.
Giants coach Kieran Delahunty said that Ararat were deserving winners.
“Ararat were the bench mark all year and are a super team and thoroughly deserve the premiership,” Delahunty said.
“Obviously it’s disappointing. I think we gave ourselves good chances to win the game and Ararat were too good.”
“In the third quarter we missed a couple that nearly went through and you never know what could have happened but to Ararat’s credit they responded in the fourth and took the game out.”
Whilst they didn’t win the game, Delahunty said he was proud of the boys.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the boys. They are an unbelievable group and battled hard.”
Delahunty also thanked the supporters.
“They are an unbelievable group in the Mallee and I want to thank them for their great support throughout the year,” Delahunty concluded.
In the Reserves, Ararat won a thriller by 2 points. Horsham had a 10 point lead at quarter time after getting out of the blocks fast but were held scoreless in the second quarter as Ararat kicked 5 goals to lead by 20 points at the main break.
The Demons came hard in the third quarter only trailing by 8 points at three quarter time and came harder in the last kicking 3 goals to 1 to eventually fall 7.16.58 to 8.8.56.
Demons forward Deek Roberts was awarded the best on ground medal with Dyson Parish, Jordyn Burke, Logan Millar, Harry Miller and Ryan Backhouse all among the best on the ground for the Demons.