Stephen Milne (No.3) and Sam Mildren kicked 13 goals between them for the Storm on Saturday.

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WILSON CELEBRATES STORM'S FIRST PREMIERSHIP

FITZPATRICK FINDS MANY POSITIVES FROM YEAR

GRAND FINAL GOAL BY GOAL

THIRTEEN goals between star forwards Sam Mildren and Stephen Milne helped spearhead Strathfieldsaye to its maiden Bendigo Football-Netball League senior premiership on Saturday.

Mildren and Milne had 21 scoring shots between them as the Storm romped away from Sandhurst in the last quarter to win 20.18 (138) to 12.11 (83) at the Queen Elizabeth Oval.

The grand final win came in just the Storm’s sixth season since they joined the BFNL in 2009 as a newly-created club.

The Storm had gone into the grand final as raging hot $1.18 favourites, but the Dragons - who played both Tim Martin and Nick Stagg who had been injured in the preliminary final the previous week - put up a gallant fight until the floodgates opened in the final term.

The game followed a similar pattern to their second semi-final clash a fortnight earlier, with the Dragons leading at quarter-time, before the Storm hit back in the second term.

The game couldn’t have got off to a better start for the Storm when from the opening bounce, Matt Smith won the clearance and kicked long to Mildren.

Mildren marked 40m out and with just 39 seconds on the clock, kicked the first goal of the game.

But with a goal on the board in the opening minute, the Storm wouldn’t add their second for another 25 minutes when Vinnie Flood capitalised on a Tom Cole turnover in the Dragons’ defensive 50 and converted.

Down the other end, the Dragons kicked four first-quarter goals.

Two of those were kicked by their best player of the day Lachlan Ross - one a left-foot snap and the other a 50m set-shot.

Ben Anderson and youngster Billy Evans also kicked first-quarter goals for the Dragons, who suffered the game’s first injury blow when key forward Ryan Haythorpe limped off the ground with a calf injury at the 12-minute mark.

The Dragons led by 10 points at quarter-time, 4.2 to 2.4, but were stiff not to be 15 points up at the first break when Albert Weddell had a set-shot from 40m after the siren that hit the post.

And Weddell’s shot wouldn’t be the last time the Dragons hit the post in the game - they finished with four posters.

Having trailed at quarter-time, the Storm upped the ante early in the second term, but couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard.

Inside the first eight minutes of the second term the Storm scored six times, but could only register 1.5.

Lachlan Sharp had three of those scoring shots, kicking 1.2, with the goal he kicked a gem from the boundary from 40m after the Dragons’ Alex Wharton had kicked out on the full.

The Storm had the ball locked in their forward half until the Dragons were finally able to get the ball inside 50 for the first time of the term at the nine-minute mark when Lee Coghlan marked a Weddell kick.

Coghlan nailed the set-shot from 40m that put the Dragons back up by five points, 5.2 to 3.9.

However, that lead was short-lived. A minute later Milne marked and - after missing his opening three shots at goal - kicked his first major.

Milne’s goal put the Storm back in front by a point at the 10-minute mark, and from there, they held the lead for the rest of the game.

Milne’s goal was followed by four others over the next seven minutes - two to Mildren, one to Kris Lea and another to Milne - that blew the lead out to 26 points and the alarm bells were ringing for the Dragons.

But the momentum shifted on the back of an off-the-ball incident in which Sandhurst captain Blair Holmes felled Sharp, and Holmes was then taken down by Steven Baker, sparking a melee between the two sides.

With the game heating up, it was the Dragons who responded as they charged back into a game that had appeared on the verge of slipping away.

The Dragons had the last six scoring shots of the quarter, kicking 3.3 to close to within five points at half-time. Mitch Dole provided a spark, kicking two goals, one a left foot snap after he burst through a pack.

The Storm - who lost Flood to a knee injury in the second term that will require a reconstruction - led by five points at half-time, 8.10 to 8.5, before the third quarter became a tale of one side that took its opportunities, and the other that didn’t.

The Storm extended their half-time lead from five points to 21 at three quarter-time, despite having just one more inside 50 (12 to 11) and one more scoring shot (seven to six) in the third term.

The Storm capitalised on their third-quarter opportunities, kicking 5.2, with the term getting off to a strong start when Lea marked 20m out and kicked his second.

But down the other end, the Dragons could muster just 2.4 for the quarter, with all four misses from set-shots, although two were posters.

The tiring Dragons were marred by turnovers in the third quarter as the toll of playing three lead-up finals began to take effect.

A goal to Sandhurst’s Alex Wharton after a sliding mark at the 19-minute mark brought the Dragons within 14 points, but that would be as close as they got for the rest of the match.

Having lost Flood in the second quarter, the Storm suffered another blow in time-on of the third term when Ash Trollop was stretchered off with an Achilles injury.

One of the sidebars to the grand final was Milne’s pursuit of the century.

He started the game on 95 goals for the season and had his chance after the three quarter-time siren to bring up the ton.

But his set-shot from 40m faded left and hit the post, with his behind giving the Storm a 21-point advantage at the final change, 13.12 to 10.9.

However, Milne didn’t have to wait long to bring up goal No.100 for the season.

Two minutes into the final term Milne converted a set-shot from 40m to notch goal No. 100 for the year, but more importantly, give the Storm a 28-point lead.

As is tradition when a player kicks his 100th goal, Milne’s milestone sparked a crowd invasion that held the game up for several minutes.

And from there it was party time for the Storm as they cantered away in the last quarter to blow the final margin out to 55 points.

With the Storm blitzing the Dragons 8-1 out of the middle and going inside 50 19 times to nine, they slammed on seven goals to two in the final term.

Matt Smith booted the Storm’s 20th and final goal of the game when he kicked truly from 45m on the run.

Milne and Mildren both added two goals apiece in the final term as they finished with a combined 13.8 - AFL Victoria Country medallist Mildren, who took 13 marks, kicking 7.4 and Milne 6.4.

Sharp (three) and Lea (two) - both foundation Storm players - were the other multiple goalkickers for the premiers, while onballer Shaun Everington put an injury-interrupted season behind him by winning the Nalder Medal.

While the last term was all the Storm, there was a highlight for the Dragons when Dole kicked the goal of the day - three bounces down the grandstand wing, followed by a left-foot banana running away from goal - his fourth of the match.

MATCH STATISTICS:

Centre clearances: Strathfieldsaye 20; Sandhurst 15.

Stoppages: Strathfieldsaye 16; Sandhurst: 19.

Inside 50s: Strathfieldsaye 55; Sandhurst 45.

Minutes in front: Strathfieldsaye 91; Sandhurst 20.

MATCH DETAILS:

Strathfieldsaye 2.4, 8.10, 13.12, 20.18 (138)

Sandhurst 4.2, 8.5, 10.9, 12.11 (83)

GOALS - Strathfieldsaye: S. Mildren 7, S. Milne 6, L. Sharp 3, K. Lea 2, V. Flood, M. Smith. Sandhurst: M. Dole 4, L. Ross 2, B. Evans, B. Anderson, J. McLean, A. Wharton, L. Coghlan, B. Montague.

BEST - Strathfieldsaye: S. Mildren, S. Everington, S. Milne, L. Prior, M. Johnston, S. Baker. Sandhurst: L. Ross, T. Cole, M. Dole, M. Thornton, L. Coghlan, B. Holmes.

PREMIERSHIP TEAM:

1. Shaun Everington.

3. Stephen Milne.

4. Tom Bartholomew.

5. Vinnie Flood.

6. Michael Pilcher.

8. Lachlan Sharp.

9. Matt Johnston.

10. Daniel Geary.

11. Ash Trollop.

12. Shannon Geary (capt).

13. Sean Johns.