2012 VWFL Grand Final
Saturday 25 August 2012 at Box Hill City Oval
12 pm Reserves: VU St Albans v Eastern Devils
2.30 pm Seniors: Darebin v Diamond Creek
$10 entry

The VWFL Premier Division Grand Final will be played this Saturday at Box Hill City Oval. The Darebin Falcons will play Diamond Creek for the Susan Alberti Cup in what promises to be a very entertaining and skilful game. The Falcons will be playing in their 8th straight Grand Final, having played in every Grand Final since 2005 while the Creekers are searching for their first Premier Division flag having been runner up to the Falcons in 2009 & 2010.

The Falcons lost the 2005 Grand Final before embarking on an unbelievable run, winning 5 flags in a row and being undefeated from 2006 to 2010 under legendary coach Peta Searle. 2011 saw the emergence of the VU St Albans Spurs who inflicted the Falcons first loss since 2005 with the Spurs going on to claim the 2011 flag, defeating the mighty Falcons by 84 pts. The Spurs fell at the Preliminary Final in 2012, conquered in the last minute of the game by Diamond Creek who are back in the big one, with unfinished business.

The Falcons defeated the Creekers in the 2009 Grand Final at Box Hill City Oval by 44 points and again in 2010 at the Bill Lawry Oval Northcote by 32 points. These teams have played twice in 2012 with Darebin victors by 21 pts in Rd 6 and by 23 pts in Rd 13 when they actually held the Creekers scoreless in very difficult conditions. The Creekers are yet to record a win against the Falcons.

The Falcons have lost just 1 game to date in 2012, their Rd 1 clash against VU St Albans. The Falcons played VU St Albans in the Semi Final with the game all tied up at the end of regular time. After 10 minutes of extra time the scores were still locked up. Another period of extra time was played with Darebin finally registering the first score after 35 minutes against the wind to record a famous victory and advance to the big game.

The Creekers played some excellent football in 2012 and sat atop the ladder for the first 5 weeks of the season before finishing in 3rd place at the end of the home & away season. The Creekers defeated the Eastern Devils in the Elimination Final before playing VU St Albans in the Preliminary Final. The lead changed a number of times in a sea sawing final. With a minute to go it looked as though St Albans would hang on but inspirational Creeker Steph Chiocci had a set shot and slotted through her first goal of the game to give the Creekers the lead. They hung on to record a wonderful win & set up this meeting with their nemesis.

Some of the best footballers in the country will be on display with both teams containing All Australian players. Some of the players to watch out for include Darebin’s inspirational skipper Daisy Pearce, key forward Jane Lange who suffered a serious shoulder injury early in the 2011 G F & star ruckman Aasta O’Connor. Players to look out for from Diamond Creek include star on baller Steph Chiocci, skipper Di Haines & key forward Bek Sibenalar who has kicked 37 goals to date in 2012 and is unstoppable on her day.

The game was fixtured to be played at Coburg but has been moved due to the condition of the playing surface at Coburg following heavy use and rain.

This game promises to be a ripper as the Creekers have shown in 2012 that they are capable of beating anyone on their day. Will this be their day or will the almighty Falcons add another trophy to their already overflowing cabinet?

WHEN THE TEAMS LAST MET

Rd 6

Darebin                               1.3, 2.4, 4.4, 5.6 (36)

Diamond Creek                    2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.3 (15)

GOALS, Darebin: Sharon Roussos 2, Jane Lange 1, Daisy Pearce 1, Aasta O'Connor 1

Diamond Creek: Katie Loynes 2

BEST, Darebin : Daisy Pearce, Darcy Vescio, Aasta O'Connor, Julia Chiera, Melissa Bibby, Stephanie Simpson Diamond Creek : Anna Saxton, Laura Attard, Katie Loynes, Amelia Barden, Shae Audley, Lauren Morecroft

Rd 13

Darebin                                 2.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5 (23)

Diamond Creek                     0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 (0)

GOALS, Darebin: Jane Lange 1, Sarah Hammond 1, Aasta O'Connor 1

BEST, Darebin: Sarah Hammond, Tracy Ashby, Daisy Pearce, Emma Kerry, Melissa Bibby, Kristen Douglas

Diamond Creek: Stephanie Chiocci, Shae Audley, Amelia Barden, Natalie Stalder, Lauren Morecroft, Laura Corrigan