Hawks break 31-year premiership drought

THE Inverleigh Football Club has won its first Geelong & District Football League premiership in 31 years, following a dominant performance against Thomson.

The Hawks defeated the Tigers 15.5.95 to 4.8.32 at St Albans Reserves in this afternoon’s (Saturday, September 16) season decider, kicking the first five majors of the contest, establishing early control and continuing the first-quarter momentum until the final siren.

Inverleigh defender and captain Jack Fiolet said it was hard to put in words what winning the club’s first premiership in over three decades meant.

“I think this would have to be the greatest day in the club’s history,” Fiolet said.

“I reckon they’ll have to close down the Hamilton Highway honestly.

“Winning today, it’s the best thing for the community, we’ve let them down so many times, and just looking at those people that picked us up from our losses in previous years, to put a smile on their faces in simply prices.”

The Hawks kept the Tigers goal-less in the first term to get out to an early 18-1 lead at the opening break, before widening their advantage to 22 points at half-time.

Tempers flared early with Inverleigh’s Ryan Robertson sent off for a heavy bump on Thomson midfielder Jahd Anderson, with Anderson stretchered off as a result of the incident.

Chris Moore’s Inverleigh outfit led 31-9 at the second intermission with forward Dalton Grundell kicking three of the team’s five first-half goals in his return to the side.

Both teams traded kicks in the third term, splitting six goals down the middle as Thomson attempted a comeback.

With Inverleigh leading 69-31 at the final intermission, the Hawks put the result beyond doubt, keeping Thomson goalless in the final quarter, kicking four more of their own in the process to secure an impressive 63-point win to claim the GDFL flag.

Today’s win marked the club’s third premiership in the GDFL, and the 11^th flag in the club’s 53-year history.

The win was also the club’s twelfth victory in a row in 2023 under new head coach Chris Moore, who took over the head coaching role from Adam Donohue in the middle of the season.

Grundell finished with a game-high four goals, while Donohue finished the afternoon with three.

James Hussey and Nathan Mayes each slotted home a pair and Paddy Bourke, Mason Dickson, Daniel Grozdanovski, and Casey Meehan added to the side’s goal-kicking ledger.

Jarrod Love, Jakeb Templeton, Donohue, Grundell, Bradley Surkitt, and Matt Tyquin were named among the side’s best performers.

Thomson’s Daniel Freeman, Andrew Mead-Harding, Daniel Mowat, and Zachary Plant each tallied singles.

“I love every single one of these blokes, throughout the whole squad, from the ones to the twos and the 15 blokes that missed out on the squad today,” Fiolet said.

“The love for each other is there to see, and to put it simply, we have a bit of a no-idiot policy and it’s just such a great club to be a part of.”

Leyton Thulborn, Charley Donohue, Mick Barnett, Jordan Camm, Regan Kerslake, and Stephen Salajan were named in the best players for the Tigers.

Inverleigh’s Reserves added to the celebrations with a heart-pumping 7.9.51 to 6.7.43 win over East Geelong in the earlier game to secure the first of two premiership trophies on the afternoon.