MATCH REPORT - GRAND FINAL
Match Report 2024 Grand Final v Congupna
Seniors
Finley travelled down the highway to take on Congupna in the Murray Football League Grand Final on Saturday.
The Cats have played in 4 deciders in the last 12 years and after a gallant display of courage, will and determination fell agonisingly short by 1 point.
There was a massive crowd in attendance and the loyal faithful Finley supporters boarded buses, cars and any means of transport to be there to cheer on the Cats.
The conditions were challenging for both sides with prevailing westerly winds making for a scrappy contest in the first half.
The first quarter saw the Cats register the first major of the game. Both sides were attacking the ball, Finley were winning the ball on the inside but when it got out the Congupna runners came to the fore. The Road kicked the next two goals to take a 6-point lead at the first change.
The 2nd term saw both sides continue to be hard at the contest and due to the windy conditions only 2 goals were scored. The crowd was getting involved and players from both sides were giving there all. The Road extended their lead to 7 points at the main break.
The third term saw the game break open, and it was Congupna who took advantage and kicked 4 goals and restricted Finley to just one. The crowd could sense that maybe Finley had given their best shot and that the Road who had only lost 1 game for the year may pull away and record their first MFL premiership. They held a handy 24-point lead going onto the last term.
The only thing was no one told the brave Cats that this was what was meant to happen. They threw the magnets around and when the first bounce of the last quarter hit the ground it was the Cats who cleared it out of the middle and drove it forward to score a goal. This reduced the margin to 18 points. It went back to the middle again and the Cats again cleared the ball and scored another goal reducing the lead to 12 points. The Crowd was well and truly involved and they were willing the Cats to keep clawing back the lead. The Cats again won the ball forward of the centre and by the 12-minute mark the difference was a single goal. The next score would go the way of Congupna, and they were back out to 12 points. The Cats were giving their all and scored the next two goals to be all square at the 20-minute mark. The crowd were witnessing a classic finish, and it was the Road who scored the next goal to again lead by a goal. It went back to the middle and with under 2 minutes left the ball again was deep in Finley’s forward line and when it was taken out of the ruck and kicked straight threw the middle scores again were level and it looked like going into overtime. With less than 30 seconds left the umpire threw the ball up and the road cleared it, and a long-range point was enough to give Congupna the slender 1-point margin. The siren went and there were emotions pouring out from both sides, tears of joy and sadness where both sides had given their all in one of the most exciting Grand Finals ever witnessed in the Murray League
Final Score
Finley 9.10.64 def by Congupna 9.11.65
Goals
Mitch Carson 2, Nik Burns 1, Luke Moore 1, Angus Robertson 1, Jesse White 1, Lachlan Hawkins 1, Zac Brain 1, Tom Land 1
Best Players
Luke Moore, Kayden Sharp, Mitch Carson, Angus Robertson, Jesse White, Tom Lang
Seniors
Finley travelled down the highway to take on Congupna in the Murray Football League Grand Final on Saturday.
The Cats have played in 4 deciders in the last 12 years and after a gallant display of courage, will and determination fell agonisingly short by 1 point.
There was a massive crowd in attendance and the loyal faithful Finley supporters boarded buses, cars and any means of transport to be there to cheer on the Cats.
The conditions were challenging for both sides with prevailing westerly winds making for a scrappy contest in the first half.
The first quarter saw the Cats register the first major of the game. Both sides were attacking the ball, Finley were winning the ball on the inside but when it got out the Congupna runners came to the fore. The Road kicked the next two goals to take a 6-point lead at the first change.
The 2nd term saw both sides continue to be hard at the contest and due to the windy conditions only 2 goals were scored. The crowd was getting involved and players from both sides were giving there all. The Road extended their lead to 7 points at the main break.
The third term saw the game break open, and it was Congupna who took advantage and kicked 4 goals and restricted Finley to just one. The crowd could sense that maybe Finley had given their best shot and that the Road who had only lost 1 game for the year may pull away and record their first MFL premiership. They held a handy 24-point lead going onto the last term.
The only thing was no one told the brave Cats that this was what was meant to happen. They threw the magnets around and when the first bounce of the last quarter hit the ground it was the Cats who cleared it out of the middle and drove it forward to score a goal. This reduced the margin to 18 points. It went back to the middle again and the Cats again cleared the ball and scored another goal reducing the lead to 12 points. The Crowd was well and truly involved and they were willing the Cats to keep clawing back the lead. The Cats again won the ball forward of the centre and by the 12-minute mark the difference was a single goal. The next score would go the way of Congupna, and they were back out to 12 points. The Cats were giving their all and scored the next two goals to be all square at the 20-minute mark. The crowd were witnessing a classic finish, and it was the Road who scored the next goal to again lead by a goal. It went back to the middle and with under 2 minutes left the ball again was deep in Finley’s forward line and when it was taken out of the ruck and kicked straight threw the middle scores again were level and it looked like going into overtime. With less than 30 seconds left the umpire threw the ball up and the road cleared it, and a long-range point was enough to give Congupna the slender 1-point margin. The siren went and there were emotions pouring out from both sides, tears of joy and sadness where both sides had given their all in one of the most exciting Grand Finals ever witnessed in the Murray League
Final Score
Finley 9.10.64 def by Congupna 9.11.65
Goals
Mitch Carson 2, Nik Burns 1, Luke Moore 1, Angus Robertson 1, Jesse White 1, Lachlan Hawkins 1, Zac Brain 1, Tom Land 1
Best Players
Luke Moore, Kayden Sharp, Mitch Carson, Angus Robertson, Jesse White, Tom Lang