By David Nagel
CRANBOURNE’s 13th senior premiership cup would be overflowing if the blood, sweat and tears of the last five years were poured into the precious piece of silverware.
The blood spilt during five home-and-away campaigns, the sweat of just as many pre-seasons, and the free-running tears that have accompanied the Eagles four consecutive grand final defeats from 2012 would produce a cocktail of rare emotion.
It’s a cocktail that would exemplify hard work, typify resilience, and epitomise the hard work and character that the Cranbourne Football Club has had in abundance throughout this epic journey.
It’s a journey that ended with the ultimate reward on Saturday, a 34-point victory over reigning-champions Berwick that ended five years of ridicule in the South East Football Netball League.
Never mind the fact that the Eagles had finished top three for a remarkable eighth consecutive year, or were playing in their sixth grand final on the trot, the ridicule stemmed from their inability to get the job done on the biggest stage.
But second-year coach Simon Goosey dedicated himself to changing mindsets, rebuilding a team, and on Saturday added a fifth coaching triumph to his previous success stories at Mornington in 1996, ’98, 2001 and ’04.
The storylines are remarkable.
Nick Darbyshire was playing just his second game of senior football, Michael Thompson his second game for the season and, most remarkable of all, Matthew Weller was playing his first game of senior football since this very day in 2014.
The Eagles were without their inspirational skipper Marc Holt, who finally succumbed to a broken left leg after an emotional address to his team-mates on the Tuesday before the match.
But heroes – there were still plenty!
Like Ryan Davey and Mat Fletcher, two midfield dynamos who typify the blood, sweat and tears analogy, overcoming serious injuries over the last three years to kick two goals each to seal the deal in the final term.
“I’ve been thinking about it for so long it just didn’t feel real,” Davey said after the match.
“We had two minutes to go and people were telling me we’d won it, but it wouldn’t sink in, it’s hard to believe that it’s happened to tell you the truth.”
