Myrtleford has grabbed the AWFA senior men’s league and cup double after a classy 2-0 victory against Cobram in the cup final at Jelbart Park on Sunday.
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Both defences were hard to break down in the opening minutes with no clear chances for either side.
But on the stroke of half time, co-coach Matt Park made a darting run into the box and was brought down to draw a penalty.
The former league Star Player was up to the task and neatly tucked away the ball into the bottom right corner to give the Savoys a vital 1-0 advantage at the break.
Cobram came to life in the second half and started to pressure the Myrtleford defence.
Tyler Seabrook narrowly missed with a header 10 minutes into the second half and Nathan Thomas had Cobram’s best chance in the 66th minute, but was also just off target.
A dazzling piece of footwork saw Arron Redman beat a number of Cobram defenders before swinging the ball into Nagus Henry who sent his volley wide of goal.
However, it wouldn’t come back to haunt them as Star Player Will Dennis continued his week to remember with a clean finish to put the Savoys 2-0 up with less than 10 to play.
Dennis dominated the last 30 minutes of the contest to prove why he was voted the league’s best this season, but it was Park who was awarded the player of the match.
The Myrtleford co-coach was thrilled with the result, but thought Dennis was unlucky not to get the nod after another standout performance in what was his last game for the club.
“It’s nice to win those awards, I just wanted to put on a performance to help the boys get over the line,” Park said.
“I thought he (Dennis) was absolutely magnificent.
“When the game was in the balance, he stepped up, demanded the ball and took responsibility, he’s a massive player.
“He’ll be a big loss around the club, he’s a good bloke to have around, but we’ll wish him all the best and send him off in style.”
Cobram coach Adam Gatcum admitted the side wasn’t quite at its best.
“We had a couple of half chances early on, if we could have taken one of those it might have been different,” Gatcum said.
“We didn’t play our natural free-flowing football, but credit to Myrtleford, they stopped us from doing that.”
But Gatcum will be taking plenty of positives away.
“I’ve coached for three years, the first year we won the Shepparton comp, last year we won the AWFA league and unfortunately just fell short in the final this year,” he said.
“It’s about learning and growing from these situations into next season.”