LISMORE-Derrinallum’s maiden senior football premiership as a merged entity will go down as a triumph after adversity.
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The Demons outlasted Tatyoon 15.11 (101) to 10.14 (74) in a memorable Mininera and District league grand final at Willaura Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
The win came three months after club stalwart Robert “Rosie” Pemberton died suddenly in June, a loss which had a profound effect on the two communities.
That was the latest in a string of tragedies to rock the club. Well-regarded footballer Jock Anderson lost his life in a tragic accident in mid-2014 while Tom Young, who trained with the Demons during the pre-season, died when his crop-dusting plane crashed in March.
Demons coach Mark Sinnott had the trio in the forefront of his mind on Saturday night as he let the magnitude of what the group had achieved sink in.
“Just for those guys, we’ve come back now on the bus and walked into the middle of the ground and sang to them. It was just fantastic.”
The premiership was also emotional for Sinnott personally. The 58-year-old, in his fourth year at the helm, had a “none from several” record in grand finals as a player or coach until Saturday.
“I said to my dad when he was alive ‘I’m going to coach’. He said ‘why?’ I said I want to learn to coach, I want to be a coach and I want to coach a premiership side. That was 32 years ago,” he said.
The Demons held the Hawks at bay during a low-scoring first term and led by 16 points at half-time.
That became 25 with a quarter to play before goals to Brad Schiltz, Michael Lockyer and Tim Fitzgerald sealed a flag almost two decades in the making.
One-time rivals, Lismore and Derrinallum united in 1999 during a turbulent period for football in the area. They lost consecutive grand finals in 2003-04 before finally breaking through.
Lockyer kicked four goals and won the best-afield medal before dashing back to Ballarat to play in a soccer grand final.
Schiltz also booted four majors while Brad Lockyer, Michael Fitzgerald, Gary Knights and Josh Pearson completed their best players.
Sinnott also paid tribute to captain Scott Henderson.
“His performances and leadership over the last three or four years have been absolutely fantastic, second to none,” he said.
“He’s a great bloke, a great leader of people, he never leaves anything behind.”
He put the win down to a lift in pressure compared with their second semi-final defeat.
“The guys have grown into a group where they’ve got this massive belief in each other,” he said.
“We had a couple of games earlier in the finals where we just got through. But our pressure right across the ground was fantastic today.”