CMCFL grand final: Dandaragan second-half blitz helps break title drought in revenge win over Jurien Bay

Dandaragan have redeemed their loss in last year’s decider and broken their 17-year drought after they beat Jurien Bay in the Central Midlands Coastal Football League grand final.

The Saints were embarrassed by the Bulldogs in the 2023 finale, going down by 58-points as they watched Jurien Bay walk away with the flag.

Dandy meant business this time around and showed their class to break their premiership drought in the 16.10 (106) to 6.4 (40) win out at Lancelin on Saturday.

The clash between the two top sides was scrappy, with stoppages around the ground stopping any fluid play but Jurien Bay looked good with the ball on foot.

A throw-in right in front of the Bulldogs goal set up Rhys Waters to snap the first goal of the decider for Jurien.

As the first quarter played on, Saints’ Ambrose Ryan drew a free kick in the guts and sent it forward to a one-on-one contest at the top of the 50, with his target Jamie Paul winning the ball.

The Bulldogs looked to get it out of danger, but the ball spilled back forward, and a lucky bounce went in Jack Rava’s favour as he kicked the goal to put Dandaragan ahead.

The ball started flying out of the centre contest and Paul got another for the Saints, but Jordan Bestry quickly responded for the Bulldogs.

It looked to be a close contest with the sides tied at 13-points apiece, but Dandaragan fired late with Todd Kenny setting up Django Ryan for a long goal.

The Saints came out of the first quarter with a 17-point lead ahead of the reigning premiers.

Jurien Bay fought back in the second term in the form of Austin Britza who took a mark at the top of the 50 and ran with to put it through for the first goal of the quarter.

With five points separating the two sides, Jurien Bay’s backline was under pressure with Dandaragan keeping it inside their 50. Eventually a passage of play let Paul kick his second goal and extend the Saints lead.

After a long first half, the siren sounded with Saints holding an 11-point lead into the main break.

The sides looked evenly matched in the opening half with Dandy holding a slight edge, but it was a completely different game in the second half – with the Saints absolutely dominating the matchup.

Bulldogs had the ball up forward but couldn’t get a good look with it, while Dandaragan were quick to transition the pill in their attacking half – giving Paul a chance to kick his third in the game.

As the quarter went on Dandaragan continued to look better and come up with majors while keeping Jurien Bay scoreless.

Their momentum carried into the fourth and the Saints continued to fire, as they held Jurien Bay to just one goal in the entire second half – coming away with the 66-point win.

The victory breaks the drought for Dandaragan as they claim flag number three in club history, with Rava being named best on ground with his three-goal performance.

The Saints saw Mathew Helms, Angus Laurisson, Jesse Reinke and James Williams all boot pairs of majors in the win.

It wasn’t all bad news for Jurien Bay, with their reserves side capturing glory in the grand final against rivals Cervantes.

The Bulldogs ressies captured back-to-back flags, sinking the Tiger Sharks 8.8 (56) to 1.7 (13), with Joel Warburton being named the side’s best on ground.

Across the rest of the CMCFL’s grand final celebrations, Cervantes got up over Jurien Bay in the little decider 9.7 (61) to 3.1 (19).

The Tiger Sharks snapped up the hockey premiership over Moora 2-0 with Ashley Warrell being named the match winner.

While Dandaragan got up over Jurien Bay in the A-grade netball grand final, claiming the 35-26 win with Sian Hill named MVP.