The Foul Bay Chickens have made it back-to-back flags after a comfortable 135-point win over Darraweit Guim in the weekend's ORFFA grand final.
The Scoreboard:





Foul Bay

Def: Pearce (42), Ibbotson (0), Harwood (82), Yarran (91)

Mid: Dangerfield (131), Selwood (127), Liberatore (159), Kelly (82)

Ruck: Mumford (159)

Fwd: Pavlich (56), Stokes (106), Bartel (156), Dahlhaus (72)

I/C: Roughead (118), Thomas (90)

TOTAL: 1471
Darraweit Guim

Def: McKenzie (73), Thompson (70), Otten (126), Frawley (59)

Mid: Harvey (127), Cunnington (84), Foley (81),Seedsman (85)

Ruck: Maric (68)

Fwd: Westhoff (132), Vickery (83), Walker (123), Betts (87)

I/C: Hill (67), Rance (71)

TOTAL: 1336

In a battle between the reigning 2012 ORFFA premier and a team which made the grand final from seventh on the ladder, it was always going to be a challenge for the lower ranked team to make a contest of proceedings.
Team selections did little to help the build-up to the big game - a mysterious case of 'Ross-itis' felling a Chicken defender (Johnson) as well as a Guim forward (Walters).
Both teams were forced to make two further changes, with McLean and Broughton injured for Foul Bay, while Newnes (injured) and Edwards (suspended) couldn't be considered for Darraweit.
The Chickens opened up a sizeable early lead due to the efforts of Roughead and Mumford. The Big Mummy in particular was in fine form. Brad Hill tried hard in the early going for the Dirigibles, the youngster capping off a solid first season at the Guim with a pleasing score.
Ross-itis hit the Chickens hard on Saturday, with Garrick Ibbotson struck down and unexpectedly unable to take his place on the field. This left the Chickens one player short and opened up a glimmer of hope for Darraweit Guim.
Poor scoring from Pavlich and Dan Pearce didn't help the situation, but this was only a blip on the radar as Selwood, Bartel, Kelly, Stokes and Harwood racked up the points freely to extend the lead.
The Dirigibles, until now quiet on the scoreboard, hit back hard with Westhoff, Walker and Betts scoring well. The quartet of Rance, Vickery, Foley and Maric were, however, solid rather than spectacular for the Guim.
And although Andy Otten played one of the best games of his career to carve out a great score, Foul Bay's Dangerfield and Yarran also scored well and helped push the Chickens' lead out to around 300 points with only three matches to play.
Darraweit Guim entered the final stages of the game with more players in hand, but needed each of those players to perform extremely well to even have a chance at pinching an unlikely win.
Those hopes were dashed relatively early, with McKenzie unable to replicate his early season form.
Thompson battled hard but at this point Foul Bay were well in the box seat with a comfortable lead and quality players still to play.
The late games produced some good scores from Harvey, Seedsman and Cunnington for Darraweit, but they were more than matched by Foul Bay's Thomas, Liberatore and Dahlhaus.
Ultimately the margin may have flattered the Dirigibles, with Foul Bay one player short throughout the game.
With that, a great ORFFA season has drawn to an end. Congratulations to all 18 coaches who have taken part, and to Foul Bay and coach ChiefRussell for making it back-to-back flags.
Best of luck to everyone in the off-season trade and draft periods.