THE stage was set for Pambula Panthers captain Sean Smith, striding into the 30 meter arc with five seconds remaining on the clock, the Panthers were trailing the Bermagui breakers by three points. With the siren sounding as the goal was kicked Smith had stepped up to deliver his side a dramatic three point win and get his team’s season off to a flying start while crushing the Cinderella story of Bermagui. After topping the table after the preliminary rounds, Bermagui’s day was made even more special after not fielding a senior team during the 2013 season with captain Brent Ohlin ‘Extremely proud [of his] boys’.
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With the seven Sapphire Coast AFL teams and the Cooma Cats descending on the sun drenched Pambula Sporting Complex the stage was set for the first Pre-Season champion to be crowned since Bateman’s Bay in 2008. With an altered football 9’s format being played by the eight clubs, the football was fast, open, skillful and entertaining while many players came from the field gasping for air.
After three hard fought rounds of preliminary games emerged two standout teams in Bermagui and Pambula with the Tathra Sea Eagles and Merimbula Diggers rounding out the top four to take place in the knock out finals series.
Hometown heroes the Narooma Lions fought gallantly throughout the preliminary rounds with limited numbers but were unable to grasp that elusive win. The major highlight from the preliminary rounds was the Eden Whalers who beat the Narooma Lions to register their first competitive win in over 12 months.
The semi-finals played out to script with Bermagui easily accounting for Merimbula by eight goals while Pambula won the matchup between last year’s two grand finalists with Pambula reversing the result inflicted upon them last September. With the two undefeated teams squaring off against each other, there could only be one winner with Pambula Panthers taking the crown to kick start their 2014 season.
‘It was a cracking day, with all the clubs embracing the concept set forth it allowed for some great football and a chance for teams to gain some valuable match fitness. It was a tremendous effort from the clubs, their volunteers, spectators, umpires, AFL NSW/ACT and Pambula Football Club for making this day a huge success.’ Football operations coordinator Jarrod Moore said at the end of the day.
Round 1
Tathra 13.6.84 D Eden 3.3.21
Pambula 9.6.60 D Merimbula 8.3.57
Bermagui 19.7.121 D Narooma 4.3.25
Bega 11.5.71 D Cooma 7.3.45
Round 2
Pambula 14.4.88 D Bega 4.2.26
Merimbula 7.11.53 D Tathra 7.8.50
Eden 11.3.69 D Narooma 6.4.40
Bermagui 12.5.77 D Cooma 3.6.24
Round 3
Pambula 15.6.96 D Cooma 6.2.38
Merimbula 12.7.79 D Eden 2.2.14
Tathra 15.4.94 D Narooma 6.3.39
Bermagui 10.4.64 D Bega 5.4.34
Semi Finals
Bermagui (1) 11.0.66 D Merimbula (4) 3.0.18
Pambula (2) 8.4.52 D Tathra (3) 5.1.31
Grand Final
Pambula (2) 6.0.36 D Bermagui (1) 5.3.33
Position Club Played Won Lost Drawn For Against % Points
1 Bermagui 3 3 0 0 262 83 316 12
2 Pambula 3 3 0 0 244 120 203 12
3 Tathra 3 2 1 0 230 113 204 8
4 Merimbula 3 2 1 0 189 124 152 8
5 Bega 3 1 2 0 131 167 78 4
6 Eden 3 1 2 0 104 203 51 4
7 Cooma 3 0 3 0 106 244 43 0
8 Narooma 3 0 3 0 104 286 36 0
