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VT League Finals Day Wrap
Sunny skies; lush green grass; and a great family venue for all to watch some great Touch
Football was on offer. In the audience for the inaugural VT League Grand Final was The
Victorian Minister for Sport James Merlino MP, Chairman for Touch Football Australia Peter
Rooney, and TFA CEO Colm Maguire alongside approx 300 other spectators. All were to
witness some of the best Touch put on in Victoria by some of the states best players.
The day started with the undefeated Vipers, and the ever improving University Blues, took to
the field for the first of the days clashes: the first ever VT League Womens semi-final
match.
In a dream start, the Uni Blues side drew first blood - serving notice the minor premiers were
not about to have everything their way - but it wasn't long before Vipers hit back, and the
game went into half time with both sides locked 1-1.
It was Vipers who opened the card in the second stanza, however the Blues pushed hard
for the equalizer only to be denied by the strong Vipers defence. After defending their line
for the first 8 minutes of the second half, the Vipers eventually went on the attack to post
another two touchdowns, before Blues could manage a consolation touchdown in the latter
stages. Unfortunately it was too late for the University team, and Vipers women’s became
the first team to enter the VT League Grand Final on the back of a 4-2 win.
The second semi-final was to see Casey Cougars pitted against Melbourne City Lions. Both
sides had been involved in some terrific games this season, with not a struck match
between them, and so it was to prove the same in this second of the women’s semi finals.
Casey opened the card, before Lions equalised, and as with the game beforehand, both
sides went into the break drawn 1-1.
The second half saw both teams go touchdown for touchdown - and when the final siren
blew, it was Casey 5, Lions 5. Both teams came out firing on all cylinders as the game went
into drop-off, but neither side seemed able to gain any real ascendancy, and the clock ticked
on until both teams were reduced to 3 players each.
As is often the case in big games, the big game players come to the fore - and in Victorian
Women's touch there's arguably no one bigger than Karen Jones: 12 times state
representative, NTL representative, and former member of the National Training Squad.
What a moment it was for Karen, in what was a competition that was made for top players
like her.
With the drop off extra time looking desperately for that deciding play, Karen Jones swept
onto the park and immediately found space - as Casey players chased in pursuit, so too did
Lions players in support. An inside ball, followed by another to the outside, and Karen dived
over the line to seal a terrific 6-5 victory for the Melbourne City side, the Lions players
charged off the bench in celebrations, Casey simply went to their knees to reflect on what
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might have been.
The next game was the first semi-final of the Mens division - the undefeated Casey
Cougars, and the dark horse Melbourne City Lions.
Despite an up tempo start by Casey - who were fielding only 9 players for the finals day - it
was Lions who scored first. Casey hit straight back though, and the remainder of the half
played out fairly evenly; Casey just edging ahead to take a 5-3 lead into the break.
It was the Casey Cougars who posted first points as the game went into the second half, but
the Lions were not about to lie down just yet. Unfortunatley, scoring 7 touchdowns against
the free scoring Cougars doesn't always guarantee a win and Casey found themselves as
the first of the men's teams into the Grand Final after a comprehensive 12-7 win.
The final semi-final of the day saw arch rivals, Bayside Vipers and University Blues, square
up for the opportunity to perhaps steal the VT League crown from Casey later in the day. In
a match of two growing rivals whose three round games have been relatively close all
season, Blues took the slightest of 1-0 leads into the sheds at halftime.
With everything on the line, Vipers hit back early in the second half, before Blues once again
edged ahead. It would be a fool though who writes off a Vipers side with the likes of Mick
Carter, Matt Ross, Chris Katal, Damien Kirk, & Clinton Burke though and the Viper's came
home strongly to match the Blues at 2-2 as the seconds wound down. When both teams
were looking towards the extra time drop offs, the Bayside Vipers made a last minute play to
score the tightest of touch downs between the Blues defence to win the game 3-2. As
predicted at the end of round 2, Bayside Vipers will play the Casey Cougars for the right to
become the first ever VT League men’s champions.
Between the Semi finals and Grand Finals, a Touch Football Victoria Community
Development game was held, which showcased members of Victoria’s U15 development
squad. This game gave the audience a taste of some of the potential future talent for the
VT League. Also during this time the Minister for Sport, James Merlino made presentations
to the Casey Cougars for the Licence Championships and to the University Blues Women’s
team for the first ever “Fair Play” team Award.
The first of the two day's GRAND FINALS was the Women's clash between Bayside Vipers
and Melbourne City Lions.
In an intriguing battle that eventuated in little scoring opportunities due to rock-solid defence,
it was the minor premiers, Bayside Vipers, that would take the 1-0 lead into the half time
break.
Keeping with the day's trend, Lions scored first points after drinks, only to see Vipers hit
back soon after; then, as the clock wound down, visiting guest, and TFA CEO, Colm
Maguire, made the crystal ball prediction: "Lions will score here to take the game into dropoff" ... and so it was! Once both sides were reduced to 4-on-4, the tension mounted - would
this be the page torn from the script for Vipers? The definitive answer was, yes!
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A dump/split play 5m out was exactly what the doctor had ordered for Lions - and the
Melbourne City side claimed the first ever VT League premiership trophy!
The Men's clash was to see a contrast in styles - the structured and disciplined Bayside
Vipers up against an ad-lib and free-running Casey Cougars.
It didn't take long for Casey to make their mark, the Cougar's opening their account in the
opening minutes. Vipers had a few tricks still up their sleeve though, and a traditional "A"
play put them straight back into the match. Casey then went on the rampage, notching up
another 2, before taking their foot off the pedal and allowing Vipers to snatch back a 3-3
scoreline at the break.
With the strain of depleted numbers taking their toll on Casey, and a rock solid defensive
effort by Vipers adding to the cause, the Cougars went in to what many saw as a panic
stricken game plan: they pushed passes, they took poor options, and they generally looked
far from the free-running Casey Cougars of weeks past. If not for a piece of magical vision
by Jason "JK" Kaiwai, it would have been a scoreless second half - the Cougar's primary
playmaker firing off a long ball to put Casey 1 up, after a middle/middle assault and had
compressed the Viper's line.
From that point it was a war of attrition, but the Casey boys held strong, and despite coming
off with their only game of the season unable to post 5 touchdowns or more ... they had still
taken the spoils, and that was all that mattered.
Individual award winners for the 2007 VT League were:
MOST INFLUENTIAL PLAYER - voted by opposition coaches.
Mens - Elias El Chaar (Melbourne City Lions)
Womens - Anne Bright (University Blues)
BEST & FAIREST - voted by referees
Mens - Terry Beazley (Casey Cougars)
Womens - Leah Percy (Melbourne City Lions)
In short
SEMI FINALS
WOMENS
Vipers (4) def Uni Blues (2)
Lions (6) def Casey (5) - dropoff.
MENS
Casey (12) def Lions (7)
Vipers (3) def Uni Blues (2)
GRAND FINALS
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WOMENS
Melbourne City Lions (3) def Bayside Vipers (2) - dropoff.
MENS
Casey Cougars (4) def Bayside Vipers (3)
VT LEAGUE LICENCE PREMIERSHIP
(Combined points score of both mens and womens points at the end of the regular season)
1st - Casey Cougars
2nd - Bayside Vipers
3rd - Melbourne City Lions
4th - University Blues
AWARDS
VT LEAGUE FAIR PLAY AWARD
University Blues Womens
Melbourne City Touch