By Callum Ludwig
Saturday 10 September marked Grand Final Day for EFL’s Division One football and it was minor premiers Montrose up against the in-form East Ringwood in the season decider for the Under 19.5s.
It wasn’t to be for the Monners however, as East Ringwood came out on top in a nailbiter 6.7, 43 to 7.7, 49.
It was a cagey affair in average conditions. Montrose had most of the play throughout the first half, consistently putting the East Ringwood defence on the back foot, with the Roos only mustering a major right at the death of each quarter. The first quarter goal came from Connor O’ Brien and the second after a controversial deliberate out-of-bounds free kick against the Demon’s Dylan Coppin was handed to Zachary ‘Chilli Chicken’ Cileceken on the boundary line who slotted home after the siren. Spectators argued that East Ringwood’s number 31, Mitchell Francis, should have been awarded the kick as the player putting the pressure on Coppin as he crossed the boundary line.
Cileceken proved to be a thorn in the Demon’s side all day, even preventing livewire Daniel ‘Chambo’ Chamberlin from taking a spectacular grab in the second quarter. Chambo had climbed high above the pack only for Cileceken to have gotten his hands up in front and taken the mark.
At the start of the second half, East Ringwood began to demonstrate their defensive strength by rebounding the ball quickly out of their defence. Montrose’s ability to win the clearances and get the ball forward never wavered, but East Ringwood got on top of the scoreboard with intercept marks and quick ball movement to isolate their forwards, particularly Cileceken. They kicked three goals to Montrose’s one in the third quarter, with the Monners major coming courtesy of Rylan Howes, who made amends for a downfield free kick that resulted in a goal with his own from a well-taken set shot.
East Ringwood had a one-goal lead at the final change in what promised to end in a thriller.
The Roos took the first scalp of the final quarter and held a 13-point lead for a short while before Montrose pegged it back with a pair of their own. A goal from Dan Chamberlin drew the scores level at 43 apiece and the game was well and truly on.
With only minutes left, Cileceken once again drifted clear in the forward line and took a mark as three Montrose defenders desperately chased back to try and make an impact on the contest. Cileceken goaled to give East Ringwood a six-point lead, pulling out a head-banging celebration to the crowd and leaving Montrose supporters with their hearts in their mouths.
The game ticked into time-on, introduced to the Under 19.5s competition only for the second half of Grand Finals, and the siren could’ve gone at any moment, as the third quarter had only stretched out to 20 minutes and 56 seconds.
Eventually, Montrose got a long ball forward from a Griffin Beardsley-Allen kick to a large pack congregated at the top of the goalsquare. No mark was taken and eventually, there was a stoppage as the umpire took the ball. It went up for the rucks and before Montrose could muster up a clear chance for a shot on goal the siren went, prompting despair and delirium from the respective sides.
Zachary Cileceken claimed the Blue Ribbon for best on ground with his five-goal haul.
The best players for Montrose on the final day were Joel Smith, the strapped-up Josh Mentiplay, Noah Warton, Griffin Beardsley-Allen, Ben Schilte and Daniel Frith. Goalkickers were Smith and Mentiplay with 2, and Chamberlin and Howes each with one.
