The weather gods must love junior football as we could not have had better conditions to contest the Plate Final for the 13's. The match was between the East Fremantle Power Junior Football Club and the Attadale Bombers Junior Football Club. After two days of finals football the previous week, the grounds staff had worked hard on Marmion Reserve and provided a great playing surface for the second week in a row.
The talk in the rooms pre-game was about teamwork, winning the contested ball and playing with consistency and those words must have rung in the ears of the boys as the match started, spurring them on to win a wrestle in the centre of the ground to clear a contested ball to a long searching lead from Nic Fox. Bailey Kentish swooped on the loose ball from this contest and goaled to score the first goal within a minute of the game starting. The crowd roared and the confidence of the Power supporters started to grow, but not to be outdone, the Bombers returned fire and scored immediately to put the pressure back on the Power and silence the Power crowd.
All eyes were on the next clearance and which was won by the Power thanks to the ruck work of Sam Harlick and the clearance by Tom Weston and the goal to Patrick Nicolson. The strong marking of Joey Eardley, Bailey Kentish and Andrew Gill were a feature of the quarter, as was the general ball movement of the Power team. Both teams went goal for goal for the remainder of the quarter, with the Power down by 2 points at quarter time.
Coach Bockman demanded more talk from his team in the second quarter and this completed the puzzle for the Power players as they dominated the second term, kicking six goals to the bombers one. Although solid in the first quarter, the hard running and ball carrying of Angus Moyle was a feature of this quarter, made possible by the shepherds and support of his team-mates. Not content with the flashy stuff, Angus laid a strong tackle on centre wing and released the ball to Ryan Hart who moved it onto Bailey Kentish in a tight one on one tussle. Bailey took a strong mark and goaled.
Angus cleared the next two centre breaks and setup goals for Cam Allen and Liam Minervini which saw the power with three on the board within the first 4 minutes of the quarter. This rattled the Bombers team and they did not recover for the rest of the quarter. Additional goals from Tim Bockman, James Ahern and Ben Bockman saw the Power go into half time with a 28 point lead.
The Bombers coach must have given his boys a spray at half time as they came out with renewed vigour and intensity. Both teams kicked two goals, one point for the quarter. Early on the defensive work on Andy Gill was outstanding, with one rebound attack from Andy resulting in a goal for Finn Davison, courtesy of a Tom Weston pass. Tom Eastaugh had been a solid contributor all day, showing his commitment to the team's success by committing to a hard physical clash that resulted in a knock to an "area" that no boy or man alike can usually walk away from without a feeling of pain and discomfort. Some privacy and a bit of rest and he returned later in the quarter to replace Andy Gill who suffered a knock to the knee in another hard clash.
The teamwork of the Power was a highlight of the day and no better example can be found in passage of play started by Darcy Sunter deep in defence where he used his strength to switch play to find Jaiden Thomas in space, who moved the ball quickly by foot to Tom Weston, who then shot a quick handball out to the running Angus Moyle. Angus then kicked long to Joe Eardley, where Harry Tesser roved the ball off the pack and scored a goal. The Power went into the final break with a 29 point lead.
At three-quarter time Coach Bockman gathered the boys in a tight huddle and asked for fifteen minutes of team first footy and this is what they delivered. Tom Weston goaled early and Jaiden Thomas showed the value of a strong tackle, winning a contest at centre wing and then finding Patrick Nicholson in space. Patrick moved the ball onto Nic Fox who hand-balled to Tom Weston for his second goal of the quarter. Nic followed up this good work, with a snap from a contest to goal late in the quarter. From there on in the Power players were able to enjoy the final moments of the game knowing they had won the 13's plate final for 2012.
The final scores were the Power 14 – 5 (89) to the Bombers 7 – 7 (49).
At the completion of the game the boys gathered around Daniel Crole, the unlucky 26th man who could not play in the final. The coach acknowledged his contribution over the year and that he had put in the hard yards with the boys to ensure they made the grand final and the boys made sure he was included in the celebrations and shared the victory with them.
Bailey Kentish 2, Liam Minervini 2, Tom Weston 2, Patrick Nicholson 1,Cameron Allen 1,Tim Bockman 1, James Ahern 1, Ben Bockman1, Finn Davidson 1, Harry Tesser 1, Nic Fox 1.
An added victory for the Power on the day was that Angus Moyle was awarded the best on ground medal from the District, congratulations Angus.