In perfect conditions Eastern jumped out of the blocks and held a 30 point lead at quarter time. That margin was extended to 39 at half time, however the Ranges were wasting many opportunities in front of goal, especially from set shots.
Satterley used this as motivation, urging his team at the main break to make the most of their own opportunities and to leave nothing out on the field in what would be the last TAC Cup game for nearly half of the selected team.
While conversion could have been better, the Knights responded well in the third term and controlled much of the play, but only bringing the margin back to 33 points. Full forward Michael Still was starting to lift by kicking two goals, taking his tally to three for the day.
Still opened the final term by kicking three goals in a row and suddenly the Knights were only 15 points away. Unfortunately that was as close as the Knights could get as they were the only scoring shots for the term. Eastern worked their way out to a final margin of 31 points.
With a win extremely unlikely at three quarter time Still continued his stellar run of form over the past six weeks and did as much as he could to lift the Knights. Josh Griffiths and Dylan Grimes provided plenty of quality rebound, while Luke Stanton impressed once again with his silky skills in the midfield. In his final game for the club Hamish Paynter displayed the tenacity that he’s been known for over the past two years and typically left nothing out on the field.
After the game Satterley noted that the game could have been over by half time if Eastern were more accurate. “We got jumped early and we were probably fortunate that they didn’t really put us right away in the second quarter, missing a lot of set shots on goal and leaving the door open just a little bit.
“Stanton and Griffiths really thrived on the big, open space of this ground and they were really good today. They won a lot of footy.
“(The big ground) Probably just showed that the next step for a lot of the younger boys is really to get their fitness to another level so they can maintain it for four quarters.
“Tackling was really good. As usual the Paynter’s and the Stavely’s of the world were really good in that area, so there were some positives to take out of this game. If we had another game next week we’d definitely have some positives to draw on! It was certainly disappointing not to get the win, but the boys went down fighting and that was the main thing.”
Region Manager Peter Kennedy accepted that Satterley’s work had to come first in this instance, but was disappointed to lose his main man. “It’s disappointing to lose a person of that caliber around the club. I mean, obviously it was a work situation which arose where he’s been promoted and due to that promotion it meant something had to give. Whilst it’s a great career opportunity to Satts, it’s a sad loss for the Knights.”
Satterley’s passion for football and the Northern Knights was prevalent until the very end. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time here as head coach in an elite competition. It’s such a great environment for these boys and I just hope they appreciate it. As their coach I’ll sorely miss the involvement with these boys, watching them grow and develop. I’ll certainly be very proud of whatever bigger and better things they go on to.”
Eastern Ranges 14.16.100 def. Northern Knights 10.9.69
Goals: Still 6, Hurley, Stanton, Hobbs, Micevski
Best: Still, Griffiths, Stanton, Grimes, Paynter, Wallace