Wickepin storm home but Boddington clinch third UGSFL flag in five years with epic one-point grand final win

Boddington have won their third league premiership in five years after their stirring upset win over Wickepin in the Upper Great Southern Football League grand final in Williams on Sunday. The Eagles held the Warriors to just three goals for the first three quarters and led at every change to snatch the premiership from the flag fancies with a stunning one-point win. The Warriors were held scoreless for the entire first quarter and managed just three goals by three-quarter-time with the Eagles surging 27 points clear at the last change. The Eagles kicked the first goal of the last quarter to open up a game-high 33-point margin but a determined Warriors outfit stormed back into contention to pile on the next five goals and make for a tense finish. Matt Jukes produced a classy piece of roving, snapping from a pack at the 24-minute mark to drag the margin back to a single point, but the Eagles held on for a famous 8.8 (56) to 8.7 (55) grand final win. Goals to Eagles Eric Moody, Harrison Ellis and Lewis Gillespie set the tone in the first quarter before Mitch Salmeri added another early in the second. Jukes got the Warriors’ first early in the second term but Riley Holden put through another for the Eagles shortly after, snapping a terrific goal from a stoppage to put the Eagles up by four goals. The Eagles’ buffer was dragged back to 13 points at half-time and both sides failed to score a major for the first 20 minutes of the third term. However two running goals in the space of three minutes to Salmeri and Moody pushed the Eagles towards grand final glory. The game looked to be all over as ex-AFL player Jarrod Cameron nailed a superb goal from the 50m arc in the second minute of the final quarter. But Warriors’ Jaxon Ramsey injected life back into his side, thumping home a long bomb from 55m out before Callum Garcia added another five minutes later. Quick goals from Luke Crouch and Ramsay meant an unlikely comeback victory was on the cards and after Jukes slotted another with just over five minutes left, the Warriors supporters were at fever-pitch. However the Eagles clung on, sparking jubilant scenes among players and supporters. Matthew White, Jacob Schorer, Alek Oliver, Cameron, Jeremy Dierciak and Blake Reynolds were best for the winners. Schorer was yellow-carded for striking Warriors’ Garcia in the second quarter, sparking a melee. Matthew White was presented the George Warren Medal for being the best and fairest player of the match, earning 15 of a possible 15 votes. “We worked hard and we made sure we brought it home,” White said. “(Wickepin) had an awesome season, only had the one loss all year, you’ve worked hard and no doubt you will be back next year. “To everyone who came out here today to support your teams congratulations to all the grades, thank you for representing country football. “To our boys, well done on the win.” Schorer was awarded the South Fremantle Football Club’s best on ground award. Eagles coach Gary Gillespie was delighted his side’s thin margin. “It’s always pretty satisfying to win a game by a point, I must admit, and doing it the hard way, it’s a testament to the way that these boys play their game,” he said. “They’ve got a really strong belief and to be honest this game was probably the calmest that I have been going into a game in the finals series. “Well done to everybody involved, it has been a massive effort.” “It’s even more really satisfying to be able to do this, to not only coach this great bunch of blokes here but also two of my boys.” Eagles skipper Lewis Gillespie was proud of his side’s effort against a strong Warriors side. “To Bodd, our supporters, volunteers, just everyone involved in the club, it is unreal and we had this belief that we could do it and here we are now,” he said. Garcia, Ramsay (three goals), Kyle Medcalf, Sam Fortini and Fraser Wittwer were superb for the Warriors in a losing affair. Warriors coach Brendan Wattleworth said it was a heart-wrenching result. “I wasn’t gutted for myself, I was just gutted for the players and the supporters and all those people who have waited so long to try to win a grand final,” he said. “What cost us was probably not scoring in the first and third quarters even though we had plenty of ball inside 50. “Our forward line just wasn’t effective on the day but credit to them the way they set up against us and pushed some numbers back, they outplayed us for the first three quarters and credit to them.”