Calivil makes history

By Luke West
Updated November 7 2012 - 12:25am, first published September 14 2008 - 12:01pm
PREMIERS: Calivil United celebrates winning the 2008 Bendigo Bank Loddon Valley Football League's senior  grand final.
PREMIERS: Calivil United celebrates winning the 2008 Bendigo Bank Loddon Valley Football League's senior grand final.

CALIVIL United created Bendigo Bank Loddon Valley Football League history on Saturday by becoming the first club to win six consecutive premierships.In what was a one-sided grand final, the Demons demolished Pyramid Hill, winning 16.17 (113) to 6.9 (45) in front of a crowd that paid a gate of $24,000 at Newbridge’s Riverside Park.Of the six straight flags the Demons have now won, dating back to 2003, Saturday’s 68-point margin was the biggest yet.As far as a contest goes, the game was a non-event, but there was still plenty of drama, with the match including a headcount, three players stretchered off the ground and two players yellow-carded.The Demons outplayed Pyramid Hill in every respect, not letting up their pressure at any stage of the game and forcing the Bulldogs to constantly fumble.The Demons dominated the centre clearances and stoppages, and ran the Bulldogs ragged.Just three minutes into the game, both sides were reduced to only 20 men after a sickening clash between Demons’ hard-nut Brad Allen and Pyramid Hill ruckman Orry Mann.As both players attacked the ball fiercely, they clashed heavily front-on at the scoreboard forward flank.The game was held up for eight minutes as the pair was stretchered off the ground and taken to hospital.With Mann’s game over three minutes in, Pyramid Hill turned to Tom White and inclusion Jason Rawnsley to carry the ruck load.But with Rawnsley, who was one of the few solid contributors for Pyramid Hill, forced into the ruck, the Bulldogs were robbed of a tall defender.The opening term was dominated by the Demons as they kicked with the aid of the breeze.With Ross Maxted, Glen Richardson and Jade Clymo dominating through the midfield, the Demons had eight scoring shots to two in the first term.However, the Demons were wasteful, kicking just 3.5, with Nic Balic, Ross Maxted and Lloyd Maxted kicking Calivil United’s three first-quarter goals.But as well as the return of only 3.5, Nick Manley and Aaron Demeo also sprayed gettable shots out on the full in the first term from inside 50 metres.Pyramid Hill suffered a blow late in the first term when full-back Travis Gillett was reported for striking Manley and yellow-carded, reducing the Bulldogs to just 17 players on the field for 15 minutes, which would have sensational ramifications early in the second quarter.Calivil United went to quarter-time leading 3.5 to 0.2, although the Bulldogs were unlucky not to get their first goal in the dying seconds of the term, with Matt Chilcott marking in the goal-square one second after the siren sounded.Pyramid Hill kicked the first behind of the second quarter in the opening minute, taking the Bulldogs to a score of three points.But at the two-minute mark of the second term, the game was halted as Calivil United called for a headcount.Both teams lined up in the centre of the ground and it was found the Bulldogs had 18 players on the ground, rather than their allowed 17.At the time the Demons were leading 3.5 to 0.3, but the Bulldogs had their score wiped back to zero.However, equally disappointing for the Bulldogs, as a result of the headcount Calivil United ruckman Shaun Lourie was awarded a free kick 35 metres from goal and converted the Demons’ fourth of the game.Pyramid Hill finally kicked its first goal at the 13-minute mark of the second term when Daniel Wills took a strong mark in the goalsquare and kicked truly.The Bulldogs’ first goal came from their 16th entry into their forward 50, which showed just how strong the Calivil United backline, led by Lachlan Ralphs, Steve Blake, Steve Dean and Evan Ralphs, had been when the game was there to be won.But Wills’ goal was to be the Bulldogs’ only major of the first half as Calivil United ended the quarter by kicking the last four goals, which included two by coach Andrew Freemantle.The Demons led by 48 points at half-time, 8.8 to 1.2.For Pyramid Hill to have any chance of getting back into the contest, the Bulldogs needed early goals in the third term.The Bulldogs had two early chances for goals when Chilcott marked twice inside 50 in the first six minutes of the third term.But the normally reliable Chilcott, who was well held by Lachlan Ralphs, missed both chances.The Bulldogs did manage to kick the first goal of the quarter, though, when Ben Altis snapped from 20m out at the seven-minute mark, cutting the margin to 40 points.But that would be as close as the Bulldogs got for the rest of the game.In a seven-minute burst between the 13 and 20-minute mark, the Demons kicked five unanswered goals to stitch up their historic sixth straight premiership.The five goals were all kicked as a result of the Demons winning the ball out of the centre, and without it getting once into Pyramid Hill’s forward 50.Calivil United full-forward Nic Balic kicked three of the five goals in the Demons’ third-term onslaught as he reaped the benefit of some crisp delivery into the forward 50.The three quarter-time margin was 71 points in favour of the Demons and blew out to as much as 76 points at the nine-minute mark of the final term after a goal to wingman Brock Rogers.However, Pyramid Hill kicked four of the last six goals of the game to outscore the Demons in the final term, 4.4 to 3.7.Adrian Alford kicked two of Pyramid Hill’s last-quarter goals to end the game as the Bulldogs’ only multiple goalkicker.Just as Pyramid Hill had been in the first half, the Demons were reduced to only 17 men late in the game when Richardson, who was one of his side’s best, was reported and yellow-carded for tripping Bulldogs’ wingman Luke Cauchi.The Bulldogs later lost classy midfielder Gavin James, who was one of his side’s better players, when he was stretchered off the Leg 5 ground at the 23-minute mark of the last term.Demons’ defender Blake, who was opposed to Altis, was awarded the VCFL Medal for best on ground as he ended his consistent season with another fine game.While Blake was superb in the back half, for the second year in a row Ross Maxted could consider himself unlucky not to have won the medal, as he dominated in the engine room all game for the Demons and kicked two of his side’s first five goals.One of the telling differences between the two sides was the amount of marks taken inside forward 50.Pyramid Hill took just six, while Calivil United had 21, as Balic, who finished with five goals, Manley and Leigh Haw all provided strong targets in attack for the premiers, who also dominated the inside 50 count 62-41.

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