TWO out of three ain’t bad!
The Beerwah Bulldogs U13s Div 1 Pool B boys and girls squad both took out the grand final on September 2, with the U16 Div 2 boys losing their grand final by two points.
All the junior grand finals were played out all day at the Ronnie Cargill Oval in Coolum, with the U13 boys being the first match of the day for the Doggies.
Beerwah dominated in the first half, scoring the first two tries of the game against the Caloundra Sharks .
The Sharks fought back with a try of their own, and it was back and forth with another try from Beerwah, then another from Caloundra leaving the half time score 18-10.
Caloundra came out strong in the second half, scoring the first try in the left corner, however the Bulldogs responded quickly with a try of their own in the right corner minutes afterwards.
Beerwah kept the try scoring going, with another four-pointer to secure their strong lead against the Sharks.
The opposition scored one more try to end the game, however the Bulldogs came out victorious 30-18 against Caloundra, setting a positive precedent for the day.
The highlight game of the day was the club’s second grand final- the U13 girls, who won 42-18 against the Stanley River Wolves.
This game was particularly special to the club, because it was the first time the Beerwah Bulldogs has had a U13 girls side, let alone winning the grand final in it’s first year in the competition.
Beerwah Bulldogs Club president, Ref Hammill, said he had tears in his eyes after that game.
“The boys and girls are the future of the club, and I couldn’t be any prouder,” he said.
“For me, the U13 girls is really the pinnacle of football,and they celebrated, it’s an honour to see how those girls have grown.”
The Doggies scored the first two tries for the game in under five minutes and both in the left corner. Stanley River responded with a try of their own towards the end of the first half, however, Beerwah struck back with a try of their own.
The Wolves got one more try to end the first half, followed by another from Beerwah, with the half time score 20-10.
Beerwah continued to dominate in the second half, scoring five tries to Stanley River’s one, in which the Doggies scored the first two.
The final score was an impressive 42-18.
Although the perfect end to the day for the club would have been for the U16 Div 2 boys to also win their grand final and for the Reserve Grade to win their preliminary final in Kawana, it was not to be.
The Doggies scored the first try of the match, however the opponents, the Coolum Colts, responded with two tries of their own, taking the lead at half time 10-6.
Beerwah clawed back though, scoring two tries to put them back in the lead, but a final try from Coolum and more successful conversions then the Bulldogs saw them lose 16-14 in a close battle.
The Bulldogs Reserve Grade Men also lost in a preliminary clash against the Stanley River Wolves 20-16, scoring the same number of tries, however, the Wolves scored a penalty goal and had one more successful conversion then the Doggies, ending their finals run.
Ref said he was proud of how all the teams carried themselves on the day.
“You can’t win them all, two wins is pretty good, but I’m proud of the club and everyone who has helped make this happen.”