THE SAWTELL Panthers have capped off a stellar season with a commanding performance to win this year’s reserve grade premiership.
The Panthers thrashed the Macksville Sea Eagles 32-0 to win the season decider at C.ex Coffs International Stadium.
The Panthers had to weather an early storm as the Sea Eagles had the better early chances, in an error-riddled grind of a first half where points were at a premium.
The Panthers finally broke through just before half-time, courtesy of a great darting run from Kalem Blair to take a 6-0 lead into the break.
The Sea Eagles came out strong to start the second half, but the Panthers defence remained resolute.
The Panthers worked their way up the field to score their second try, finished off by a bullocking run from captain Dale Middleton.
He was in again shortly after as Sawtell got rolling with all the momentum of a runaway train.
The floodgates well and truly opened, as Danial Klaassen got a double with Luke Willis also amongst the try scorers, as Sawtell celebrated their first reserve grade title since 2019.
Panthers coach Beau Klaassen shared his thoughts on how his side were able to win the grand final so convincingly.
“Our turnaround in the second half, we were making too many errors in the first half, but at the end of the day our defence was just too good, we were just so desperate to stop them from scoring,” he said.
“They had a lot of ball early and we withheld it, and we got the points just before half-time, and I think that was a big boost to getting us home in the end.”
After losing just twice all season, the Panthers coach emphasised what made the team so strong.
“Our leadership group, they’re all experienced, everyone just bought in, and that was our main strength,” he said.
“We had a lot of experience, a few younger guys as well which added spark, but experience got us home in the end.
“We had four players from our last premiership team in 2019, so it’s special for them.”
By Aiden BURGESS
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