Match Report:

Early November 2015 the CGFC group began Pre- season, It was fantastic to see so many school boys training with the Grammarians in preparation for their football school year. Myles Spielvogel and Joey McClelland were announced as Co- Captains for 2016. The year started off with at Practice game against Whitefries which were only had 18 players available for the match. Although low numbers, it was great to see the commitment and the determination of the group so early in the season.

The home and away season started off with a great win against old Brighton with the match starting with the raising of the 2015 premiership flag. It was a great start to the year with the positive energy and closeness of the group a real highlight.

Throughout the year the 19’s group worked hard on the training track working on their game style and how they could improve as a group. There were some great victories against Old Melbourne and Fitzroy that were must win games. As the holidays came around and a few boys headed off to get some extra sun, it was a great opportunity for the school boys to play in some matches and get a taste for 19’s footy for the grammarians. To play finals the group needed to win 3 of their 4 matches. The group won their last 4 matches ensuring they finished 3rd at the end of the home and away season.

The finals started with a hard fought win against St Beds Mentone: A four quarter effort of strong contested football ensuring they got the win. This then created the matchup with Old Melbourne in the Preliminary Final in a triple header for the club. The game was an extremely tough, many stoppages with low scoring. The win would come to the team that took their opportunities in front of goal. The third quarter provided just that, Caulfield came out after half time and put scoreboard pressure on Melbourne and running out 40 point winners and booking a berth in the Grand Final.

As the week progressed the nerves built and there was a feeling of excitement and anticipation for the big clash against rivals Parkdale. After playing them three times throughout the home and away season, Caulfield was not able to get the points on these three occasions. Although we had learnt a great deal on how Parkdale play and set up. The Grand final was a hard fought contest, the main message to the group was taking your opportunities and everyone will have their moment and what you do with that moment will determine the result of the game. It was a very close game throughout, the third quarter proving critical with some big goals to Spielvogal, Toniolo and Dorevitch. The fourth quarter was tight and tough, the group knew that the first 10 minutes could be the difference between winning or losing a grand final. Caulfield put some scoreboard pressure on early from then the footy went from end to end. A huge goal from the the captain Spielvogel sealed the win.

An outstanding year topped off with a great grand final win. The boys should be incredibly proud of themselves and we look forward to see their development as footballers in the years to come.