I was there, and it was unbelievable. Is very hard to put it into words. I was cheering for Aspley, being the Qld side, and also due to the fact that I HATE Sydney. Aspley were 5 goals down at 3 quarter time, and pretty much looked cooked. They had struggled for any potency up forward, having played 6 relatively small forwards for the first 3 quarters. Sydneys backline seriously outsized all of them. Aspleys goals prior to 3 quarter time had been generated from very good run and carry. For the start of the 4th quarter, Blair had moved young Dawson to full forward, and instantly Aspley had a forward target. He started brilliantly, taking a strong mark, and kicking the goal. Aspley really seemed to lift from there, and with continued run, kept pushing forward. With a couple of missed shots, and only behinds scored, it seemed like there was just too much to do. Aspleys backline continued to stop any of Sydneys forward thrust and rebounded with great run and ball movement. A goal to put Aspley within 3 points, which seemed to already be late in the quarter, brought the crowd alive. Aspley also seemed to be getting a good run from the umps as well, with what seemed all the 50/50 calls going there way, but they were putting their heads over the footy and were desperate. When Sansbur for Aspley snapped a great goal from 40 metres out to put Aspley in front, the was a great roar from the crowd, and the boys in Brown and Yellow looked to be in control. Sydney won the next clearance and pushed forward but Aspley were able to take a defensive mark. The clock read 25 minutes elapsed, and Aspley now seemed to have gone into defensive mode. They chipped the ball around, but it seemed very risky. Their ball movement had seriously slowed down. This had started to eat up some time, but going by how long the previous quarters had run, there was still at least 4 or so minutes left. The ball had gone in dispute up and back along the wing in front of the coaches boxes, until a ball went to the advantage of Holman for Aspley, who was just forward of the centre circle. He got a horrible bounce as the ball stood up on its end, and landed to the advantage of 2 Sydney players. They moved the ball inside 50 where Zak Jones was able to get on to a loose ball with space in front of him and kicked a goal to put Sydney back in front. This now felt like Sydney had stolen the victory. Were pushing 30 minutes elapsed in the quarter. Sydney went forward once again, and Tom Mitchell with ball in hand snapped at goal to seal it but missed. Sydney 4 points in front. Copeland grabbed the footy and with nothing in the tank, kicked a torp as far as he could. The ball came to ground and contested, was kicked out wide. Both teams were now as desperate as it gets. I was thinking that there now could only be seconds remaining. Aspley were able to force the ball up the line, and with a clearance kick needed a mark. Dean Towers stood tall and marked for Sydney, and surely that was it. The kick came back down the same wing, but Aspley were able to force the ball back up that wing, mainly due to some great defensive work. Boys were throwing themselves in, and there was another stoppage what looked to be about 70 metres from Aspleys goal. Another ball up and the ball is thrust closer towards Aspleys goal, with a Sydney player first to the footy. Aspley players pounced on him with some ferocious tackling. The umpires whistle goes, and instantly I thought high tackle, free to Sydney. The Sydney player had actually been pinned for a throw, and from where I was standing looked to be 50-55 metres from goal. The ball was now in the hands of #4 for Aspley, and he needed to be decisive with what he was going to do. He had missed two goals earlier in the game, one which was an absolute gimme, 20 metres out straight in front. He owed his side. Having seen his kicking throughout the game though, there was no way he had this journey in him. He seemed to take forever before starting his run up at goal. 33 minutes had elapsed but the siren still hadnt gone. He let go of an almighty drop punt, which started left, faded back right, and with a little bit of shepherding on the line carried the distance. A roar enveloped the ground, and Daniel Smith had 17 Aspley players jumping on him. Masses of fans had run on to the ground, and I am not sure if anyone had actually heard the siren go. Watching it all unfold was absolutely unbelievable. Spine tingling !! One of the best games of footy I have ever watched. Will definitely go down as one of the greatest grand finals of all time. The Aspley boys will party for the next 2 weeks after that I reckon !!
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 08:07:51 +0000
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