Darley left its best for the right time of the year as it claimed a remarkable third straight Ballarat Football League women’s premiership.
It was grand final number four in a row between the Devils and Redan in what has become the women’s competition’s greatest rivalry.
While the Lions claimed the first premiership, it has been the Devils who have tasted victory the past two years.
After a year of ups and downs, they made it a hat-trick of wins as they claimed the premiership, 7.2 (44)-2.11 (23).
Devils co-coach Brett Faulkhead said it was a pretty special moment for everyone involved.
“It’s an outstanding achievement and full credit to all the players in the team, the support crew and all the helpers throughout the year.
“Emmerson [Hitch] has been co-coach this year and the captains Lilli [Condon][ and Chloe [Oughtred] through their leadership.
“We’ve had new girls bought in and we’ve had different leaders and all the little things. We’ve put a jigsaw together.”
Faulkhead said there had been some challenges throughout the year with injuries, with two players missing out on the grand final through them.
They started with eight wins in a row before multiple losses to Redan and Darley in the lead up to the grand final.
Faulkhead said they knew it would be a challenge to get to the grand final but once they were there, they were ready.
With perfect weather, the Devils had a plan which came to fruition.
“We got the weather we were after and were really pleased and hoped that our running game and chipping it around game would outlast them,” Faulkhead said.
“Getting the first goal early in the game set the tone in a way. We knew they had not played for four weeks.
“We came out strong and rode that for the first quarter and got the reward the next couple of quarters.
“We thought how would they go if we were leading into half time.”
The Devils led by nine points at half time.
While the Lions peppered the goals, they weren’t able to convert. They kicked just nine behinds after quarter time.
The Devils meanwhile made the most of their opportunities and it was the difference in the end.
The two best on ground medals were awarded to Lilli Condon and Charli Parsons-Jones, who kicked five goals between them.
The performance of Condon, who won her second league best and fairest award last week, was special after missing the preliminary final with an ankle injury.
“We were pretty confident she would play after missing last year’s grand final,” Faulkhead said.
“The physio did a lot of work on her. The tactic was that we weren’t going to play her in the middle as they would tag her.
“We played her at full forward and in the first quarter she got two goals.”
Parsons-Jones is just 15.
Faulkhead said she is a pretty special player with a bright future.
They had four players in their grand final team who were either 15 or 16 which is great signs for the club.
With the club seeking to field an under-19s team next season, that pathway will get even stronger.
“The juniors have come up and had an impact,” he said.”It’s just an outstanding achievement for the club.
Faulkhead said each of the premierships were different and it got harder each year to win.
He said it was pretty special to share the coaching moment with Hitch who stepped up to co-coach this season.
Faulkhead said this was the most challenging of the three.
“Each year we’ve turned over girls and had new players come in,” he said. “It’s a new identity and new ideas.
“We had some injuries that have kept girls out of the team. There’s been so many emotions and we’ve ridden the bumps with the girls.
“We’ve had some laughs and some tears and hurdles a couple of times throughout the year.
“We worked them out.
“Emmerson did some googling and it’s just one point something per cent throughout sports wins three in a row.”
