Ramblers dominate final to go back to back in Gascoyne Football Association

There was to be no underdog fairytale in the grand final of the Gascoyne Football Association as the Ramblers dominated the Exmouth Eagles to win back-to-back premierships.

The Ramblers won every quarter to smash the Eagles 12.14 (86) to 3.2 (20).

In truth this result always looked likely as the Tigers have dominated the three-team competition winning all seven of their regular season games with the only blemish on their record being a forfeit in round 11.

They scored more than 100 points on five of those occasions and conceded a highest score of just 38 in round one in what was their smallest winning margin of the season of 40 points.

The Eagles in contrast won four games in the season beating the Warriors on three occasions and benefitting from the Rambler forfeit.

The only chance for Exmouth was the Tigers had not played a match in over a month because of forfeits and byes, while the Eagles had warmed up the week prior with a 92-point thumping of the Warriors.

The first quarter would be key to see if the Eagles could catch the Ramblers off-guard but they were under pressure early and were lucky not to concede early with strong winds holding up Rambler shots for goal.

A 50m penalty to Django Ryan for a dangerous tackle made sure they got the opener from the goal square before they won the centre clearance and Leon Pearton added a second.

The inaccuracy meant it was only a 17-point lead at quarter-time but the Eagles’ goal was never in danger of seeing any action in ominous early signs.

Riley Schmidt grabbed the opening goal in the second before Jake Laycock got on the board after having looked dangerous all afternoon.

Alarm bells were ringing but Chad Rumble finally got a pulse for the Eagles slotting his shot from around 25m to get them on the board.

But Ben Elieff responded almost immediately and they grabbed another to put the margin out to six goals at the half.

To their credit, the Eagles didn’t lie down despite the impossible task as Liam Mollross and Thomas Pattle scored two goals in a row to bring the margin to 30 points.

They evened up around the ground and were holding steady before two late Tigers goals put the game to bed.

The Eagles would not score again as Ramblers added three more goals in the final term to round off a resounding win and grab the flag that has seemingly had their name on it since the beginning of the year.

Leon Pearton was awarded best on ground for his two goals and efforts around the ground.

It was better news for Exmouth in the women’s final as the E’Gals were convincing winners over Carnarvon Women’s 4.11 (35) to 1.1 (7)

It is just the second year for the side who play just a handful of games throughout the season and is the first flag for what is the first women’s team to ever represent Exmouth.