NEW England Nomads secured a third successive Essential Energy Tamworth AFL premiership with a 40-point win in Saturday’s explosive grand final decider at Armidale’s Bellevue Oval.
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The Nomads kicked 13.7 85 to the Inverell Saints’ 6.9 45 in a match called off at three- quarter time after a serious injury to Saints’ Darren Pithers had ignited a nasty all-in brawl including players, officials and spectators.
Pithers was left unconscious amidst “cheap shot” claims and later taken to Armidale Hospital with a suspected broken jaw.
It was a sickening blow, said Saints captain-coach Nick Baird, who was one of the first to reach a kayoed Pithers.
“He was unconscious for quite a while.
“It was a bad tackle, a cheap shot.
“It was well after the ball and it was a disappointing way to finish the game.”
Officials elected to call off the game after waiting for an ambulance but the referees thought Pithers had tried to make a tackle on a Nomad player, it had gone wrong and he had been concussed accidentally.
While upset with Pithers’ injury, Baird said the Nomads deserved their win.
“They outplayed us and deserved the win,” he said.
“We did start well but then they hit the accelerator and we couldn’t find a way to stop them.
“It was well deserved.
“They’ve had a great year. They are a very good side.”
The TAFL’s leading goalkicker, Dave Richards, was the goalkicking star for the Nomads, the little forward kicking eight goals.
Isaiah Graham also kicked three majors while captain-coach Zac Economou and Weston Whitby were the only other Nomad goalkickers.
In contrast, the Saints had six different goalkickers.
The Nomads had many stars – Whitby, former captain-coach Tom Granleese, Matthew Foley, Zach Wells, Richards and Graham amongst them.
Economou said the injury to Pithers finished the game early and he was hoping the Saint was okay.
“It wasn’t the way we wanted to finish the season,” Economou said.
“We’d started a bit flat and Inverell did start well.
“But we responded well.”
Graham was the spark, Economou said.
“Isaiah got us into the game, lifted us late in the second quarter and got us on a roll.”
It was a brilliant patch for the home side.
They kicked six goals in the space of 10 minutes to turn a three-point quarter-time deficit into a 20-point half- time lead.
They added another 20 points to lead by 40 approaching three-quarter time when Pithers was injured.
“That was the diference,” Baird said of the Nomad six-goal spurt just before half- time. “They were just too good,” he said.
Hamish Bird, Hayden Chappel, Michael Gould, Luke Selig, Tom Williams and Baird all tried to ignite the Saints.
“Hayden Chapple was outstanding for us, so good through the middle.
“Justin Pay was great too.
“ We were in the game for so much, it was just that 10- minute period.”
He said Pithers’ injury had left a “sour note” to the finish of the 2014 TAFL grand final.
