By Jonty Ralphsmith
A monstrous start in a do-or-die final has seen Devon Meadows go at least one better than last year.
It’s the first finals win for the club in a generation, their last triumph coming back in 2002.
The Panthers defeated Pearcedale by 19 points, eliminating them from the finals race after the Dales did likewise to them in 2022’s corresponding fixture.
The Panthers raced out to a big early lead, with Nick Battle and Dean Kent leading the way with their strength at the source as Riley Simmons dominated the ruck battle.
Patrick Ryder was the key beneficiary of their class, kicking six first half goals as the Panthers raced out to an unassailable halftime lead.
He finished with seven goals and the Dales had no answer for his size at full stretch and composure on the big stage.
“Paddy Ryder was unstoppable in the first half,” coach Ryan Hendy declared.
“He was very limited with his knees, but was still good enough to have a massive impact.
“He took big marks and passed three off – he’s an unselfish footballer who brings his teammates into the game so he definitely could have kicked 10 if he wasn’t so unselfish.
“He missed two he would usually kick.”
Pearcedale significantly trimmed the margin in the second half, with Devon Meadows down on rotations, Stefan Baumgartner and Simmons among four players limited in the second half.
Dales forward Cruiz West, who kicked four when the teams last met, finished with five as he was again an overhead threat.
Ryan Bastinac, meanwhile, was limited in his influence with the Panthers putting more time into stopping Kaolan Thornton.
Others to play well in the big game included backman Jayden Sullivan, Joel Hillis and Patrick Harmes.
“When we went forward, our main focus was locking the ball inside 50 and trying to play most of the game in our attacking zone, so the boys did that really well and we were really good around the contest,” Hendy said.
“We brought the physicality a little bit more than what they did.
“The pressure when they got the ball was very good as well.”
Next up for the Panthers is Karingal, which, after being the dominant team for the first two thirds of the season, lost two consecutive games, including to Devon Meadows, and had another one taken off them.
Karingal then regrouped to win four more in succession on the run home, but conceded nine goals in the second half to lose to Somerville by 46 points in the qualifying final on Saturday.
