The Kempsey Saints Under-18s have proven to be the best junior side on the Mid North Coast after they defeated the Tinonee Eagles 4-1 in a dominant display in the Zone Championship game in Port Macquarie at Regional Stadium last Friday night.
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Kurtis Smith opened the scoring from the penalty spot for the Saints from the penalty spot before the Eagles, who play in the southern Football Mid North Coast competition, equalised after the break.
Blair Wise then chipped the keeper, Braithan Lewis tapped in after a scramble from a corner and Michael Pascoe rounded out the scoring from the penalty spot to give Kempsey the three-goal win.
Saints Under-18s coach Dean Crotty was proud of the way the team came together this season to earn success.
"We had a few players come back to the side after taking a year away from the game, another player who hand't played football before and we also had our striker Kurtis Smith miss the backhalf of the season after he joined the Navy," Crotty told the Argus.
"I was proud of how well the side worked together as a team throughout the year."
Kurtis flew back to Port Macquarie to make a special appearance in the Zone Championship match and Isaac Cook was one of the standouts of the contest.
"It was great to have Kurtis come back for the game. He flew in on the Friday and arrived to the field about 10-minutes after the game started and had to fly back on Sunday," Crotty said.
Crotty claimed the Saints were on top for the majority of the contest and deserved to be crowned Zone Champions.
"We were at our best and were pretty dominant," he said.
"We spent a lot of time in their half building pressure on their goal line and that led to two of the penalties as they fouled us in the box.
"We were a handful and it's a credit to the whole team as they stuck to the game plan and did the job."
The victory capped off a tremendous season for the Saints, who finished the regular season undefeated and claimed the premiership after a 2-0 win over Port United in the grand final a fortnight ago.
"We had drew with the Port United side every time we played them throughout the year but then lost in penalties to them in the first semi-final so I think they thought they were going to have the wood over us when we came up against them again in the grand final," Crotty said.
"But throughout the year I thought that we were better than them but we just made a few mistakes which let them back into the games.
"We put together a team and clinical performance in the grand final and gave them no chance."
Crotty said about half of the side will remain eligible for the Under-18s next year while the other half will move into senior football.
"It will be good to have a fair few of the side back to try and go back-to-back," he said.
"I have now won all four of the grand finals I have coached."
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