BY quarter time in last Saturday’s Grand Final in Canberra the Coota Blues had one hand firmly on the 2014 Premiership cup.
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A team on a mission, the Blues shocked their Yass opponents with what can only be described as a stunning first 25 minutes of high pressure football, totally dominating all over the ground.
The Blues ran riot kicking nine goals to two in the first stanza to set up what would eventually be a 40 point win to realise their premiership dream and end a 22-year drought that stretched back to 1992, while the last club premiership was in reserve grade in 1997.
The final score was Cootamundra 18-5-113 to Yass 11-7-73.
Every coach would love his team to save their best football for the most important match of the season and Blues leader Luke Webb didn’t wait for it to happen, he individually made it happen with a performance in the first half that had to be witnessed to be appreciated.
Webb collected 15 possessions and kicked two goals by quarter time and by half time had 26 touches and four goals, alternating around the centre and up forward with the Kangaroos powerless to curb his influence on the game.
It was far from a one-man show however with hard-man Phil Bird almost as destructive deploying his enormous work rate to great advantage to be almost Webb’s equal over the first two quarters.
Dylan McDermott, as was expected, excelled on the wide open spaces using his pace to great advantage and continued to shine for the full four quarters to eventually claim the medal for best on ground. Ryan Miller despite picking up a foot injury early in the match was very effective as were Stephen Chant, Luke Salter, Jarryd Cook and Mick Knagge.
Up forward the Blues had, apart from Webb, a multitude of scoring options with James Dallas a real standout finishing with a career best of five goals in an amazing effort for such an inexperienced player in such a huge stage.
Sandy Maskell-Knight made the most of his opportunities finishing with four and also proved a decisive player when used further up the field.
By halftime, the Blues had broken out to a nine goal advantage and despite the match beginning to even out Yass struggled to make any headway.
The third term was a real struggle as the Kangaroos threw everything at the Blues to try and get back into the match with the Coota boys obviously having used up plenty of petrol in the first half not having things their own way.
The Blues backline, led by the brilliant Joel Pearson, began to play a huge part refusing to allow the Kangaroos to make a mark on the match and by the final change over the Blues were out to a clear 10 goal break.
The Blues put the final nail in the Yass coffin early in the final stanza before taking the foot off the pedal with Yass scoring four late consolation goals to make the score look a little more respectable from their point of view.
One of the major surprises of the day was the inclusion of Toby Johnston who had not played since round five following a broken leg and he was used off the bench getting through the match well and despite being obviously underdone was also an effective contributor.
The Blues have boasted a strong list all season and were very well served across the board over the full four quarters with Liam Frilay continuing has fine season with another strong effort in defence, Matt Lieschke good in defense and when moved forward and Jon England and Luke Johnston good especially in the second half when it was all hands on deck.
Every Blues player made a contribution and the final siren heralding great scenes of celebration in front of what was a huge Cootamundra crowd that would have outnumbered any home match this season.