By JARROD POTTER
HOPE and optimism surround Keysborough Football Netball Club and its upcoming move to the Southern Football League.
A 20-point victory serves as the last note in its Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League (MPNFL) history.
Keysborough’s president, captain and coach alike all sounded off the move and encouraged fans – who turned out in droves on Saturday to farewell the club from the Casey Cardinia – to return to the Burra in 2015 and help keep the club going as it begins a new chapter.
“It’s a bittersweet moment for us,” president Manny Scata said.
“It’s a good note to finish on but a sad note as we’re leaving this league… so it’s bittersweet, but you’re always going to want to take the four points and leave on a good note so we couldn’t ask for a better outcome.
“This is what we want our club to be – competitive, not elitist – just out with the boys having a good hard crack… if they’ve done their best they get the points.
“If that’s what it is going to be like in Southern, then come down and have a good family day, bring the kids and watch the Burra just do it.”
Coach Chris Bryan was thrilled to take the points and make sure this chapter of Keysborough’s MPNFL/SWGFL history was signed off in style.
“We wanted to leave the league and this part of the club’s history in the right way and we did that today (Saturday),” Bryan said.
“It’s (the MPNFL/SWGFL) been a part of our history… a chapter closes, but with every door closing one opens… our future looks bright.
“We’ve got a lot of positive feeling around the place and people are excited about our future.”
Burra captain Ryan Goodes – battered throughout a fairly brutal match – had the honour of being the last Keysborough player to hold the footy in Casey Cardinia League, he said it was a relief to take the points and thought the crowds showed the support the club could have going into Southern.
“I think that puts us in good stead of next year – look at the crowd that turned out today – that’s a crowd I haven’t seen since I’ve been here to be honest… probably since they were in the grand final six-years-ago,” Goodes said.
“I think that game was more important, not only on field and not to win the wooden spoon, but to put us in a good place ahead of next season.”
Keysborough looks set to join the SFL in the Division-2 competition alongside Springvale Districts and Doveton Eagles in 2015 after ending its 60-year affiliation with the MPNFL (formerly South West Gippsland Football League) on Saturday.
The Casey Cardinia season remains well-and-truly alive however, for one Keysborough team. Its B-Grade netballers are now set to play finals after a 52-25 win over Hampton Park on home-court.
MATCH REPORT
KEYSBOROUGH closed the door on its Casey Cardinia journey in fitting style with a 20-point triumph over Hampton Park.
It wasn’t played for a premiership – unlike its flags of 1948, ’62, ’64, ’65 and ’76 – but there was a great sense of occasion on Saturday at Rowley Allan Reserve to rival a grand final.
The Local Footy Show cameras were all focused on Keysborough, recording their last outing as a Casey Cardinia Football League team.
A power-packed first term saw Keysborough put an 18-point buffer on the Redbacks as goals came from all the best Burras.
Many Burras lined up to kick a farewell goal throughout the afternoon – Davor Rajic, Glenn Humphreys, Tim Werner, Richard Minney and Daniel Morland all jagged two apiece in the battle.
Hampton Park never gave in though – fighting back to almost level the scores in the second term – as the wooden spoon remained up for grabs by either team.
Many spot fires and skirmishes broke out as the passion of 2014’s last game took hold of both sides, but the biggest impact came from the powerhouse-forward performance of Tyson King (6 goals) to lead the Burra towards the victory.
King’s efforts – including the match-defining pair of goals in the final term to break Hampton Park’s resolve – led the Burra charge along with starring efforts from Michael Downie, Minney and captain Ryan Goodes who was left with a fitting finale.
The last kick came from prolific midfielder Daniel Morland and was marked by captain Goodes as the siren went sending joy, elation and most of all – relief – through him and the crowd.
“That picture probably says a thousand words and the main one is… ‘relief’,” Goodes said of the moment he was left holding the ball triumphantly in the air.
“It’s been a long season since Round 1 when we thought we’d be really competitive – we thought we were a finals’ chance… that was our original goal.
“Obviously things didn’t go our way injury wise… it’s been a really tough season.”
Coach Chris Bryan said the Burra had gained momentum heading into the last few rounds and to take a win and end the Casey Cardinia season on a high note proved what the club can do.
“We’ve been building up for a couple of weeks… to get the chocolates was definitely reward for the effort,” Bryan said.
“This is what we want to create week-in, week-out – it’s been a tough year on the field and that correlates off the field, so I said to everyone lets enjoy it as this is what we want in the future.”
Bryan praised his older heads for their efforts in and under the packs.
“I think Michael Downie was outstanding for us, Danny Morland again was just amazing, Ryan Goodes… all our senior players,” Bryan said.
“They all knew the significance of today, not only for the club but for them personally and those guys stood up and did the job for us.”
Keysborough finished its 2014 season in ninth place with a 2-16 record.
