Dogwhistle
Mixed fortunes for the Byron Bay Rams’ grand finalists this year, with the Rails Hotel Third Division boys going down to Alstonville and the rampaging Reserves making history by taking out both the Pointscore Championship and the Major Premiership.
After dominating Friday night’s match with some of their best football, the Thirds were unlucky to concede in the final minutes of their Grand Final to go down 2–1.
But the Reserve Grade Rams sealed an historic double on Saturday afternoon with a hard-fought 1–0 win over the Richmond Rovers.
Byron pressed the defending champions hard from the opening whistle, pressuring the Rovers’ goal with rapid-fire attacks from Bruce Morhaus, Will Ennis, Kazuhiro Tsukamoto, Kari Isaac and Thiago Priori.
Twenty minutes in, the Rovers’ keeper parried a powerful long-range strike from Morhaus and the deflection was pounced on by Ennis, who finished cleanly.
The Lismore team fought back but Byron back line resisted the onslaught.
As the contest continued into the second half, the Rovers long-ball game became more aggressive and produced a series of dangerous corners. The Rams’ defence held firm and turned up the heat in the final twenty as Rovers endurance and resolve began to waver.
The 1–0 win to Byron was a fitting finale to their best ever season.
The Reserves completely dominated the 2016 comp-etition, topping the table with 16 wins from 18 matches, scoring an amazing 92 goals and conceding only ten.
Competition Golden Boot, Will Ennis, was named the Man of the Match.
