By Jonty Ralphsmith
A season which promised the heights of glory for Devon Meadows ended with an unfulfilling whimper against Somerville at Chelsea on Sunday.
The Panthers finished third in the Mornington Peninsula Football Netball League Division 2 competition, navigating a tricky home and away draw and injuries to position themselves to break through.
But in the space of two shambolic games, what perhaps should have been became what could have been.
After an absurd 110-point loss to Chelsea in the qualifying final last week, Devon Meadows’ second chance seemed critical.
Instead, it provided them with the opportunity to play an encore of what the first final delivered, lacking the necessary intensity and hardness that finals demand.
The club needed a response after lowering its colours last week, and putting Patrick Ryder in the ruck to start Sunday’s clash made a statement.
Ryder was one of few shining lights last week for Devon Meadows, which wanted to give him a greater chance to influence the outcome.
Much like against Chelsea, the Panthers started well.
Trailing by just nine points at quarter time against a massive wind was an excellent result.
Joel Hillis opened the Panthers’ account with a topple-bounce-and-snapping play that only he could produce and his fiery start was significant, alongside Alex Canal’s hardness inside 50.
It started to unravel from there.
Even with the wind, Devon Meadows’ skills were messier and punished accordingly.
Initially, that was just via territory, with the first 20 minutes of the second quarter neutralised.
But Somerville’s fifth opportunity with an extra number inside 50 finally yielded a goal as they looked potent when sling-shotting.
A morbid sense of dread starting welling at halftime as the currency of Somerville’s 17-point lead increased significantly.
Cooling temperatures, greying skies and the moist scent of incoming rain painted a bleak picture of the downpour which followed.
Having fumbled and failed to fire for four quarters in perfect conditions last week, and struggling again in the wind in the first half, the narrative was legible before it was written.
The lights were switched on at the five minute mark.
The first rain tumbled at the six-minute mark.
Somerville kicked the important first goal of the quarter at the eight-minute-mark, lifting the crowd.
By the 14-minute-mark, the margin extended beyond 40, Somerville’s muted celebrations by that point and Devon Meadows’ flatness telling a clear story.
Coming off the size of defeat the Panthers were, it would be hard to stoop even lower but they seemed intent on doing so late in the third quarter.
With the margin at its greatest, beyond 10 goals, Riley McDonald and Ty Kirkwood were both yellow carded as frustrations boiled over.
The Panthers played 10 minutes either side of the break with 16 men, leaving two Somerville forwards free.
Fans were left to raffle for the few pavilion seats once the rain intensified late in the third quarter, but what they had left to watch was rudimentary.
The greatest source of intensity in the last quarter was the nail-biting crowd members keeping tabs on games around the grounds.
Only the opposition’s apathetic finish to a result already long-determined and a series of inspirational Hillis plays saved some face.
Surely the league medalist, Hillis kicked seven and continued his attempts to resist the impending inevitable loss with clean hands, strength and work rate his teammates could only admire.
Subsequently, the scoreboard finished kindly: just 34 points separated the two teams at the final siren, Devon Meadows losing 10.12 72 to 15.16 106.
Players ruminated, fans rued.
An opportunity gone, another finals defeat.
Sporting clubs provide warmth and perspective when finals scripts aren’t followed; in equal parts sorrow will be consoled and optimism espoused.
As Devon Meadows knows too well, there’s always next year.
