Country Championships: Division two grand final loss will drive Upper Great Southern to come back stronger

Upper Great Southern coach Jye Depane said a grand final defeat will drive his side to come back hungrier in the Nutrien Ag Solutions Country Football Championships. After being relegated from division one last year, Upper Great Southern were title fancies in division two this year but fell 31 points short in Sunday’s grand final to Great Southern. Upper Great Southern lost to their grand final opponents by two points on Friday but bounced back to hold Ongerup goalless and get on the board with a 33-point win to stay alive in the title race. Division two came down to the final qualifying match with Central Midlands Coastal unbeaten and up against Upper Great Southern, who were strengthened by a couple of handy inclusions on day two. Upper Great Southern trailed at half-time of their virtual knockout game with Central Midlands Coastal, but Uppers booted three quick majors and five in the second half to storm over the top and knock their rivals out of the top two. Upper Great Southern got over the line against Central Midlands Coastal after two goals from Ryan Melvin while Tom Kilpatrick (one goal), Jordan Heil, Byron Blevin and Dion Anthony all impressed. In their first game on Saturday, Upper Great Southern downed Eastern Districts by 25 points as they finished strongly with inclusion Anthony playing a crucial role and kicking a goal. But Upper Great Southern were no match for Great Southern in the final, failing to kick a goal in the first half. Depane said there were plenty of positives to take away from the championships despite the grand final loss. “Uppers still has a lot of good local talent and we were able to expose some younger guys to representative footy,” he said. “Tom Hamon is only 16 and then Noah Logie and Riley Ford are still quite young. “It wasn’t an ideal start but we bounced back in game two and that was our best, most consistent game. “Day two was two complete performances against good opposition. “In the grand final we weren’t at the same level from the get-go. “I thought we still dominated for large patches of the game but struggled to kick goals . . . we were outclassed and they were a lot cleaner with the ball.” Classy veteran Simon Panizza won the Craig Doney Medal as Upper Great Southern’s fairest and best player at the championships. Panizza played superbly across half-back while Melvin was used forward and in the midfield. Melvin and hardworking midfielder Declan Phillips were named in the Nutrien Ag Solutions Championship All Stars. Depane also made mention of strong carnival performances from Kilpatrick in the middle, Anthony, ruckmen Gregor Taylor and Liam Beacom, and said forward Will Wiggett was a strong target.