The Castlemaine Football Netball Club faithful were on cloud nine Friday evening at the Queen Elizabeth Oval when the Magpie women’s football side defeated Golden Square to complete their fairytale run winning their fourth consecutive grand final!
It was a particularly special day for the Cochrane family with longtime coach Jordan Cochrane and his three sisters and talented team members Tiahna, Ella and Hannah Cochrane sharing the magic moment.
Young gun and Bendigo Pioneers talent Hannah debuted with the Magpies in April and wasted no time making an impact to become and integral part of the lineup and be part of her first Magpie flag alongside her siblings.
The Magpie side had been dealt a number of injury blows in the weeks leading up to grannie – most notably losing their leading goal kickers Eloise Gretgrix and Brianna Burt to ACL injuries in their final home and away match against Marong.
But the side showed it had plenty of depth to draw on as they defeated Golden Square in the qualifying final to secure a grand final spot and the all-important week’s rest to recover, regroup and form a game plan.
Golden Square took the hard road overcoming Eaglehawk in the Preliminary Final to earn another shot at the rampaging Magpies.
It took a little time for both sides to settle Friday evening, but the Magpies eventually got their first goal on the board off the boot of Hannah Cochrane.
At quarter-time the Magpies held a 10-point lead while the Bulldogs were scoreless.
The Magpies kicked two more in the second through Ella and Hannah Cochrane, before Golden Square finally pegged a couple of points through in the dying stages to finally make a dent on the scoreboard.
The Bulldogs did not bow their heads applying plenty of pressure on Castlemaine in the third term and holding them to just three points, whilst finally getting a much-needed goal on the board through Liz Watkins.
However, the Magpies showed their cool heads and class in the final term with stalwart Tiahna Cochrane kicking their fourth goal and the Magpie defence locking the Bulldogs down to keep them scoreless and run out winners by 27 points in a low-scoring affair.
The CVFL Medal for best on ground was won by Magpie midfielder Maeve Tupper. The AFL Victoria Medal went to Square’s ruck Carly Geary.
Magpie coach Jordan Cochrane said it wasn’t pretty but they were thrilled with the result.
“The girls have worked incredibly hard to get here and its just fantastic to see all that effort rewarded. I couldn’t be more proud,” he said.
