Any Port in a Junior Grand Final storm

Author Name: bradgreenshields | Posted 9:00 pm on Monday 28th August, 2023

THREE of the five AFL North Coast Junior Grand Finals were won by the Port Macquarie Football Club.

In 2023, the Magpies fielded two teams in the Under 12 Mixed, Under 14 Mixed and Under 16 Boys age groups.

The two teams in each age group were known as the Swoopers and the Flyers and half of the participants on Grand Final Day were wearing the black and white.

The two closest matches of the day were the two Youth Girls Grand Finals.

In the Youth Girls 17s age group, a goal late in the last term by Nambucca Valley’s Jemma Wilson match officials grabbing the rules for Extra Time in case the match against Bellingen ended in a draw.

But it was a goal on the run from 30 metres out by Bellingen’s Deja Barlow that proved the difference between the two teams.

When Akybe Murphy kicked truly in the first minute of the last term of the Youth Girls 14s Grand Final, it gave Northern Beaches a 10 point buffer over a determined Coffs Breakers.

Few would’ve thought at that stage that it was going to be the last time the Blues scored for the match. But for the remainder of the contest Northern Beaches was forced to defend grimly as the Breakers threw everything at their opposition to try and bridge the gap.

Fortunately for the Blues, the Coffs team was unable to convert their opportunities into goals and instead kicked five behinds for the quarter which saw Northern Beaches hang on for a thrilling five-point victory.