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Sandringham Football Club 1962 |
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| BACK ROW (L-R): A.Musgrove, B.Bryan, B.Burke, D.McKenzie, R.Hoar |
| MIDDLE ROW (L-R): C.Strachan, A.Pobjoy, R.Murray, L.O'Toole, D.Kennedy, J.Kelton, R.Clifford |
| FRONT ROW (L-R): G.Dawson, J.Granger, M.Sheeran (vice-captain), N.Bencraft (coach), C.Vance (assistant coach), F.Webster (captain), B.Clark, K.Gleeson |
[All the images which follow are clickable]
Since entering the VFA in 1951 Moorabbin had enjoyed a fair amount of success. The club first qualified for the finals in its fourth season, and broke through for a premiership in 1957, when it scored a comfortable, 40 point win over warm pre-match favourites Port Melbourne in the grand final. The Kangaroos also reached the 1958 grand final, but lost to Williamstown in a replay.
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Sandringham, by contrast, had until the last three seasons endured a predominantly mediocre time since the late 1940s. In 1947 a 7 point grand final victory over Camberwell had brought it its first ever VFA flag flag, and the Zebras had also contested the 1948 grand final, which they lost by 31 points to Port Melbourne. After that, however, they failed to qualify for the finals until 1959. In recent years, however, they had begun to give strong indications that a premiership was just around the corner. In 1960 they had taken the easy route to the grand final after a 2 goal 2nd semi final win over Oakleigh, but when the teams met again to decide the premiership the wheels unexpectedly came off the Zebra machine and they lost meekly by 60 points. Moorabbin finished top of the ladder in 1962, with Sandringham second. When the teams met in the 2nd semi final the match had been closely contested until half time, but in the 3rd term the Kangaroos had rattled on 6 goals to establish a sizeable break which they never looked like surrendering. They ended up winning by 36 points, 14.15 (99) to 9.9 (63). |
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The Sandringham selection committee rang the changes prior to the preliminary final meeting with Coburg, and the Zebras rediscovered something of their best form with a 13.16 (94) to 10.10 (70) win. Nevertheless, Moorabbin, which generally had a very good record against Sandringham (see footnote 1), was a warm favourite to take out its second VFA flag. The Zebras' fine form against Coburg might have earned them a good deal more popular support had they not been forced to go into the grand final without their star rover, 1962 Liston Trophy winner and former Collingwood player Keith Burns (pictured above, right).
The match attracted a crowd of approximately 11,000 to the Junction Oval, with many thousands more watching 'live' on television. Few of those watching will ever forget the dramatic events which followed.
The opening term was tough, tense and tight - a typical grand final. Every time one team threatened to pull away, the other responded, and there were never more than a handful of points between the sides. Early in the quarter the Zebras suffered a serious setback when their centreman, Barry Burke, a potential match-winner, sustained a serious ankle injury and had to be replaced. Overall, Moorabbin seemed to have an edge in pace, and its players were using the ball better, but Sandringham, with back pocket Jock Granger particularly prominent, defended stoutly. QUARTER TIME: Moorabbin 3.6 (24); Sandringham 3.4 (22)
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The second quarter opened in similar vein to the first, but as players tired, and the pace began to slow somewhat, the Kangaroos began to assume control. With Burke off the field, Moorabbin centreman Bob Perry was accumulating numerous possessions, as, thanks to the increasing dominance of the Kangaroo ruckmen, was rover Bruce Whalebone (shown left). For Sandringham, half forward flanker Carl Strachan was proving elusive and damaging, with his 4 first half goals being the main reason the Zebras were still well in the game on the scoreboard at the long break. HALF TIME: Moorabbin 7.10 (52); Sandringham 6.7 (43) |
| In a virtual carbon copy of the third term in the 2nd semi final Moorabbin, playing with great aggression, cohesion and purpose, dominated all over the ground to add 5.5 to 0.0 and seemingly acquire a mortgage on the premiership. Defensively, the Kangaroos tightened up considerably, and Carl Strachan was hardly sighted in this quarter. Mind you, he was not alone. The Sandringham players spent most of the term chasing jumpers, and seldom managed to get the ball into their forward lines. For Moorabbin, ruckman Brian Manie was proving almost unbeatable, while rover Bruce Whalebone was winning kicks at will, and was easily the most influential player on view. The Zebras were battling desperately, and in full back Alan Pobjoy they had at least one clear winner. Opposed to audaciously talented full forward Max Papley (shown right), Pobjoy played with consummate vigour and concentration to restrict his opponent to just 3 goals by the final change. Had Papley managed to break free and embark on one of his characteristic goal kicking sprees the grand final could easily have developed into a rout, but Moorabbin's lead of 44 points at three-quarter time looked certain to be enough to bring home the bacon any way. THREE QUARTER TIME: Moorabbin 12.15 (87); Sandringham 6.7 (43) |
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What happened next was unexpected, spectacular and almost unprecedented. Cricketers often opine that something significant or dramatic is likely to happen when a team or batsman reaches a score thirteen adrift of a hundred (or a multiple of a hundred); perhaps, on the evidence of the last quarter of the 1962 VFA grand final - which Moorabbin commenced on a score of 87 points - the same is true of football.
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In a sign of things to come, the Zebras opened the final term with their most fluent and cohesive piece of play of the match, culminating in a goal to Des Kennedy, a thirds ruckman who had been promoted to the seniors for the finals. Minutes later centre half forward Bob Murray (pictured left), who had been unusually quiet, added another goal, reducing the margin to 28 points. Nevertheless, it is doubtful if many of the watching thousands seriously expected Sandringham to go on with things. However, with Laurie O'Toole suddenly winning almost every hit-out against Manie, and Bob Murray providing a reliable and regular conduit to goal, that is precisely what the Zebras did. O'Toole it was who goaled next to make the deficit less than four straight kicks, and moments later rover Graham Dawson added another. The crowd was now abuzz with excitement, as Sandringham continued to surge forward. At the fifteen minute mark of the term Murray booted the Zebras' eleventh goal, and suddenly there could be no doubt that it was 'game on'. |
Moorabbin responded by moving Max Papley, who had been a lonely figure at full forward so far this term, down the ground in order hopefully to provide his team mates with a reliable marking outlet. Had the move been implemented five minutes earlier it might have had the desired effect, but the momentum in Sandringham's favour was now irresistible. As time-on approached, Zebras full forward Bill Bryan goaled to narrow the margin to just 5 points. The Kangaroos backline was battling heroically, but the pressure was overwhelming, and when O'Toole kicked truly to put Sandringham in front by a point it suddenly seemed as though a Zebras win had been inevitable all along.
This perception was intensified after the ensuing centre bounce which saw Des Kennedy grab the ball, break clear, and unleash a towering punt kick that landed 15 metres from goal before bouncing through. Sandringham now led 14.10 (94) to 12.15 (87).
Inexplicably, Kennedy's goal seemed to provide the spark Moorabbin needed to at last produce some coordinated football. The remaining couple of minutes saw the Kangaroos attacking relentlessly, and a goal to Ron Kee made the final moments very nervous indeed for the Zebras. However, their back line, particularly the half back trio of Arthur Musgrove, Bob Clifford and Bob Hoar, stood firm, and when the siren sounded the scoreboard showed Sandringham the victors by a solitary point. FINAL SCORE: Sandringham 14.10 (94); Moorabbin 13.15 (93)
As the players were leaving the ground after the game, Moorabbin ruckman Lindsay Fox was attacked by half a dozen supporters, but the fracas was quickly quelled. Fox later spent several years as president of St Kilda.
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The Kangaroos' loss put the seal on a distinctly unmemorable day. Earlier, in the seconds grand final, they had led Coburg by 17 points deep into time-on, only for the Lions to rattle on 3 quick goals and win by a point. For Sandringham coach Neil Bencraft (shown right), the triumph came at the end of his fifth and last season in charge. It was easily the most memorable season in the club's history, with Bill Bryan's feat in kicking 7 goals to head the VFA list helping produce the rare trifecta of premiership, Liston Trophy winner, and top goal kicker. Moorabbin achieved revenge over the Zebras in 1963 with a convincing 19.16 (130) to 9.13 (67) win in the grand final. It was, however, a bitter-sweet triumph, as the following year saw the club first suspended, and later expelled from the VFA for allowing VFL club St Kilda to share the use of its ground. |
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Sandringham remained highly competitive for the remainder of the 1960s, but would not again play off for the premiership until the VFA's centenary year of 1977, when it succumbed to a cataclysmic, 100 point loss against Port Melbourne. The club took a while to recover from that ignominy, but since the mid-1980s it has enjoyed consistent success.
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1. For example, in 1954 Moorabbin had kicked its club record VFA score in trouncing the Zebras 31.12 (198) to 5.4 (34). Return to Main Text
