Vic Country’s 11.7 (73) to 7.10 (52) triumph over Vic Metro was enough to elevate it to a division one runner-up finish at the hotly-contested competition on the Gold Coast.

The Paul Henriksen-coached side finished with one win from three games.

South Australia won the title after going through the week-long tournament undefeated.

Henriksen, of Terang, said the evenness of the carnival made for an intriguing finish to the final standings.

“We lost one game by eight points and (another by) six points and the 21 points we won by pushed up our percentage,” he said.

“Twenty-one points was the biggest margin of the six games.”

Henriksen said Shannon’s performance against Vic Metro was his best of the carnival.

“It was a really impressive effort,” he said.

“We played Vic Metro three weeks ago (in a practice match) and he kicked four against them then too. It shows what a key forward can do.”

Koroit’s Jarrod Korewha, South Warrnambool’s Kyden Jarvis and Cobden’s Sean Darcy also represented the Hampden league.

Henriksen said all three showed their potential at the carnival, which Victorian teams use as a stepping stone to TAC Cup.

“Kyden played forward pocket and rover (today) and was busy all day,” he said.

“He had a leg injury in the second half but pushed past that.

“Jarrod was outstanding today at centre half-back, marking the ball and running.

“He had a very exciting carnival, just the way he plays with flair. As a defender he had two shots at goal.”

Henriksen said Sean “battled manfully” in the ruck and had a solid carnival.

Vic Country started slowly against Vic Metro and had to fight to regain control of the contest at Southport stadium.

It was 19 points in arrears at quarter-time and two points adrift at the main break, before establishing an eight-point three-quarter-time buffer.

Henriksen said Vic Country lifted its intensity in the second term and “tended to win the 50-50 contests” after the main break.