By Trevor Jackson
THE South East men fell short of glory over the weekend at the South Australian Country Football Championships in the Barossa Valley, finishing fourth after two days of competition.
The men headed off with the hope to defend their 2022 title, but missed the grand final shootout by a small percentage, despite winning both round games.
Just seven points either way could have made the difference, so close was the final ladder.
From there they faced Southern in the playoff for third position, after an earlier close win.
However, the final game for both sides played out differently, with Southern easy victors 12.6 (78) to South East’s 5.9 (39).
Clint Gallio, Jacob Eats, Daniel Bibby, Daron McElroy, Campbell Watts and Kade Bradley were named best for South East in that game, while Brayden Kain (2), Jacob Eats (1), Mitchell Lowe (1) and Colby Munro (1) all contributed major scores.
Gallio was named as the South East’s best player after what coach Nick Davis said was an excellent performance across the weekend.
Davis said it was tough for the players to get up on Sunday, after just missing out on the major game and the chance to defend their title.
“The boys were a bit flat after we won both games on Saturday and did not make the grand final,” he said.
“Winning both games we thought we would be in the grand final but we missed out on percentage.
“We were a bit off our game on Sunday but that’s okay.”
The South East men began their campaign with that hard-fought six-point win against Southern.
Eats and Kain kicked two goals each, with Rory Taggert adding the fifth for a 5.2 (32) total, to Southern’s 4.2 (26).
The second game saw a strong effort from the South East men, with a 7.7 (49) to 2.4 (16) win over Eyre Peninsula.
Taggert and Eats were again among the goals, this time with three each, while Matt Willson slotted home the remaining major.
Central and Eastern both recorded big wins to sit first and second on the ladder respectively, but Eastern only just pipped South East for that final top-two position and a grand final berth.
“We had a real tight game against Southern on Saturday, but we played really well in both games,” Davis said.
“We had quick hands and moved the ball well, but were just on the wrong side of it on the ladder.”
The round games consisted of two 25-minute halves, while Sunday’s clash for third place was over a full game.
That made for a tough contest to claim the win, with the South East still right in the contest at the final break.
“We were only just down at three-quarter time, but they got hold of us in the last quarter, kicked a few late ones and the boys ran out of steam,” Davis said.
“We went there to win, not chase third place and we did everything we could on Saturday.
“It was a weird feeling because we felt like we lost even though we won both games.
“The boys were a bit flat on Sunday, but it was still a good weekend.”
Overall Davis said the performances by his players was impressive, with a good representation from all three leagues in the South East.
“The young fellows were really good,” he said.
“A few of the Under 21s played well so it was a good performance from them.
“Clint Gallio had a terrific weekend and got our overall best player for the weekend.
“He was great in the middle and Jacob Eats up forward was really good.”
Davis said they managed to rotate all players through and finished the weekend with no injuries, despite the horrid weather experienced.
At the end of the day Davis said it was well worth the effort.
“It was a great experience for the young fellows and the old ones as well,” he said.
“It is good to get away with a bunch of blokes they don’t know, stay together for the weekend, meet new people and play footy.
“And the bus trip up and back is always fun.”
