From Port Phillip Leader
Reported by Paul Amy
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THEY said it couldn't be done, that a VFL club with no AFL affiliation would ever win the premiership.
Today Port Melbourne's champion team slayed the skeptics, capping a glorious season with a 56-point grand final victory over its great rival Williamstown at Etihad Stadium.
Port went through the year undefeated, compiling a 21-0 record. Little wonder club long-tooths maintain this is the best Borough team in the club's long and distinguished history.
After the siren supporters bedecked in blue and red swarmed on to the ground to congratulate coach Gary Ayres and his players, and thank them for delivering Port its first flag since 1982.
The fact that it came at the expense of old foe Willy made it all the more satisfying.
Celebrations started well before the final siren, after the Borough slotted seven goals to one in the final quarter, turning a tight contest into a romp.
"Come on Borough come on, come on, come on Borough come on," sang supporters behind the goals at the Lockett end of the ground.
Captain John Baird came off the ground at the 27-minute mark to embrace Ayres, and soon the players were bunching on the ground to belt out the song, surrounded 20 deep by delirious fans. Cameras twinkled for the happiest of snaps under the Etihad Stadium lights.
And soon Ayres and his players were on the premiership dais, covered in silver streamers.
Rugged onballer Toby Pinwill won the Norm Goss Medal as best-afield, but it could have gone to four or five of his teammates, such was Port's dominance.
Dean Galea kicked six goals and Patrick Rose five, putting the boot into their former club.
All season the Borough overcame adversity, and it had to again after Williamstown kicked the first four goals of the match. It threatened to bury Port before it could settle.
The Borough had to wait until the 17-minute mark for its first score, when Wayde Skipper marked near the goalsquare and converted a tight shot. Seagull Ben Davies cancelled it out with a long shot on the run, but Rose matched it soon after as Port shrugged off its early uncertainty, inspired by Ryan McMahon's defiant tackle on man-mountain Will Minson.
Port's second quarter was supreme. Key men Sam Dwyer, Malcolm Lynch and Pinwill began to hog the ball, feeding forwards Rose and Galea. Rose kicked the first two goals of the term, and Galea, leading hard, slotted four, all set shots.
Willy's defence had the wobbles and soon a leak became a lake.
Brennan Stack's nervy rushed behind and botched kick-out underlined how panic had replaced Willy's polish.
Both teams kicked six goals in the third quarter. Port extended its lead to 33 points on a Nathan Batsanis goals at the 13-minute mark, but the Seagulls got three of the next four.
Those Gulls weren't giving it up but twice they were denied on the goal line by desperate Borough backman Steve Brewer.
The quarter ended dramatically, with Port's Billy Burstin kicking a stunning banana-style goal from the boundary.
Then Williamstown's Brett Johnson was paid a free kick for holding and the siren sounded as he took his kick, trimming the margin to 21 points.
It raised Willy's hopes.
But Port crushed them with a barrage of goals, from Batsanis, Chris Cain, Galea, Rose, Michael Dillon and Shane Valenti.
"There's a lot of people out there who said a stand-alone model couldn't win a premiership," an emotional Ayres said on the dais.
"To not only go through undefeated but being the premiers and champions, just says how much courage, how much character, how much commitment, how much sacrifice this particular football group has got."
Port Melbourne 2.0 9.7 15.10 22.12 (144) def
Williamstown 5.3 6.4 12.7 13.10 (88)
Port Melbourne premiership players: Shane Valenti, Dean Galea, Cory McGrath, Stephen Brewer, Patrick Rose, Toby Pinwell, Tristan Francis, Ryan McMahon, John Baird (captain), Malcolm Lynch, Wayde Skipper, Sam Dwyer, Jake Edwards, Hugh Sandilands, Michael Dillon, Nathan Batsanis, Chris Cain, David Fanning, Jarrod Dalton, Jake Dermott, Sam Pleming, Billy Burstin, Josh Purcell
