Bear Reserves back-to-back champions

Goals: Tungamah: A. Saunders 4, T. Hayes 2, T. Irvine 2, T. Greene 2, A. Connell.

Deniliquin: B. Caruso 3, A. Bermingham 2, T. Fitzsimmons, T. Payne.

Best: Tungamah: M. O'Kane, J. O'Shea, A. Saunders, T. Hayes, J. Reilly, A. Connell.

Deniliquin: J. McCulloch, B. Hall, J. Allitt, A. Bermingham, B. Caruso, M. Horne.

The Tungamah Reserves have gone back-to-back, claiming the premiership in style with a 22-point win against Deniliquin.

Tungamah stormed from fourth to premiers, capping off a gruelling finals run with a gritty win over the Rovers in the reserves grand final at Memorial Park, Deniliquin.

The Bears were made to earn every bit of their 11.5 (71) to 7.7 (49) victory. On a scrappy day where clean footy was rare and stoppages dominated, they found the moments that mattered and crucially, converted their chances when Deni could not.

It was a tight contest early, with just a point separating the sides at quarter time.

The Bears steadied in the second term to lead 32–27 at the main break, before stretching the margin to 16 points at three-quarter time. From there, they powered home in the final term, sealing a famous victory and back-to-back flags.

The win was built on a true team performance.

Rangi was strong across the ground, while Al Reily was rock solid in the ruck, winning plenty of taps and giving first use to the midfielders.

In defence, Gambi was a wall on the last line, creating countless stoppages, with Ada also stepping up on the back flank to shut down Deniliquin’s run.

In the middle, Ocean was dominant off the half-forward flank, setting up scoring opportunities, while captain J. Saunders showcased his class with some pinpoint lace-out kicks.

Up forward, Gooba was outstanding, finishing with four goals.

Greene and Irvine were damaging, both adding two goals each, keeping constant scoreboard pressure on the opposition.

And to cap it off, Matt O’Kane produced another best-on-ground performance to officially earn the title Mr. September.

It was a brilliant all-round display, and one the team and club can be extremely proud of. For co-coach Matthew Bourke, it was a victory built on resilience.

“It feels amazing. It sounds amazing,” he said post-game.

“I’m very grateful and appreciative of what the group’s been able to put together.”

Bourke admitted the loss to Deni back in round 10, a wet and windy June long weekend, had lingered. “They had the real end of us that day,” he said.

“So it was good to get back, we went to work on them and implemented a lot of it today.”

The Bears had to do it the hard way after finishing fourth.

“We probably played out of our skin against Waaia in the first final, and that win put us on the right side of the finals series,” Bourke said.

“Coming here today, I thought Deni were the best side all year. In the back of my head, I was just thinking how close could we get, not thinking winning was a real option. But the boys proved me wrong.”

Three-quarter time was all about grit. “The message was above the shoulders, just work through the pain, a bit of extra work rate, don’t overuse the footy,” Bourke said.

“It was a stoppage-heavy game, which worked in our favour. We just slowed it down and made it our game.”

And then there was Saunders. The veteran full forward was simply too good, his four goals including a couple of trademark drop punts from the pocket.

“We’re absolutely spoiled to have big Goober at full forward,” Bourke laughed.

“Amazing footballer, and he’s way too good to be playing at 12 o’clock. He was phenomenal today, an absolute coach’s dream.”

For Tungamah, it was the perfect finish to a finals run that tested them at every turn. From fourth to premiers, the Bears embraced the grind, seized their chances, and walked away with the flag.

Thirds gallant against a determined Bulldogs side

Tungamah 9.4 - 58 def by Strathmerton 13.7 - 85

Goals: J. Walker 4, B. Doyle 3, B. Krywyn, A. Doyle.

Awards: B. Doyle, A. Doyle, J. Walker, B. Krywyn, L. Lonergan.

Tungamah’s Thirds headed to Deniliquin last weekend to take on Strathmerton, in which for a lot of the team, was their first time playing in a grand final.

Strathmerton saved its best for last, getting payback on Tungamah when it mattered most, toppling the Bears by 27 points to claim the Picola District Football League under-17 premiership at Memorial Park.

The Bulldogs had fallen short against Tungamah twice during the season, including a heartbreaking three-point qualifying final loss three weeks ago, but on grand final day they kicked straighter, defended harder and embraced a chaotic, forward-surging style that delivered a 13.7 (85) to 9.4 (58) victory.

Strathmerton came out with a roaring start, putting early scoreboard pressure on the Thirds.

The Bears settled their game as the nerves faded and a tireless fight to try and make up for the scoreline started.

The second quarter saw a very even contest, with both teams having great passages of play.

Tungamah’s supporters really rallied around the side.

Throughout the third quarter the game see-sawed back and forth with the Bears still looking determined to win.

Strathy’s direct kicking all around the ground and accuracy in their forward line proved to be too good, and the Bears would go on to fall short in the grand final.

What a great season the Thirds had and what a great bunch of young men they are developing into.

Tungamah hopes to see all players return to the club next year and hopefully go one better.

Netball

C Reserve to strong for Waaia

Tungamah 30 def Waaia 16

The long drive to Deniliquin was rewarded with the premiership for Tungamah C reserve.

The match started like most of the previous finals with a turnover created by the defence wall of Ally Cooper, Felicity Irvine and Jenny Buerckner.

The first quarter was a tight tussle as both sides worked through the nerves of the occasion.

The second quarter saw a massive lift in intensity.

The crowd were loud, and the players were loud in their encouragement of each other. Renee Wren and Allison Courtney added to the defence wall with hands over pressure. The mid court of Sharelle Vella, Amy Hollister, Lisa Ramadge and Ally were humming, rolling fresh legs when needed.

They did not let up on their Waaia opponents and brought the ball down after every defence intercept.

Kandy Vella, Charlotte Goudie and Sophie Lidgerwood combined with the more experienced Sandy Dickie to convert and extend the lead at every break.

Bec Smith and Tash Beaton were loud and their encouragement lifted all on court.

Tungamah owned the ball, owned the tempo and, by the end, owned the grand final a shiny bit of silverware to boot.

“That’s probably one of our better performances of the year,” coach Sandy Dickie said.

“There’s 14 of us in this side and 14 of us got us to that premiership. We just had to fire today, and today we did.”

Dickie was unsurprisingly in high spirits at the final hooter, but there was little time to savour the win as she was off to umpire the next game.

But during the hour beforehand, she - like every single one of the Bears - was locked into the task at hand.

Best-on-court defender Felicity Irvine was the spark plug and the steady hand all at once.

A full team effort was rewarded with the chance to hold aloft the Premiership Cup.