The elimination final was held at the neutral venue of Katandra Recreation Reserve with the winner moving on to take on either Strathmerton or Waaia, while the loser would see its campaign ended.
Having recent experience with each other, the two sides started things off with a cagey first term, both opening their accounts with two goals in the quarter.
Scoring opportunities went begging for the Blues in the second, and Tungamah capitalised on their poor accuracy, adding five goals to Picola’s 1.5 to establish a 26-point lead at the main break.
Needing to close the gap, the Blues were unable to build any significant momentum and Tungamah sealed the game in the second half, eventually prevailing 11.12 (78) to 5.8 (38).
“Obviously, not the result we were chasing, but it was a good, tough game,” Picola United coach Rhys Woodland said.
“The first quarter was pretty even, (but) the second quarter we just missed our opportunities.
“There were about three easy shots on goal we missed, and they went down the other end and took their opportunities, and then we were four goals down at half-time and just never really recovered from there, unfortunately.”
Tungamah defeated Picola last week in a higher scoring fixture, 16.10 (106) to 12.4 (76), but Woodland felt both sides weren’t giving much away in that game, given the two sides were guaranteed to meet again in this final.
“They've got a very strong midfield, they’ve got the big strong ruckman as well, so we tried to nullify them out of the middle which probably didn’t quite work on the weekend,” he said.
“It was a bit different, but I think they held their cards close to their chest the week before and so did we a little bit, so it definitely was an interesting situation.”
Although the Blues’ season is over, Woodland is happy with the progress the squad has made in 2024 and is excited to continue in 2025, signing on for next year ahead of the weekend's game.
“Not the game we wanted on the weekend and it ends all very abruptly, but if you look at the season as a whole I think we've really improved,” he said.
“We've rejuvenated the list. I think we've got a lot deeper list at the minute.
“Going forward I think we've set a good foundation and we can really launch from here going to next year.
“We’ll be giving it a red-hot crack and the recruiting campaign starts now and we won’t be sitting still that’s for sure.
“We have a lot of faith in this list and I reckon we’ll be able to hopefully push deep into finals next year.”
Having been around the club for several seasons and this year taking on his first campaign in sole charge of the team, Woodland is optimistic about how Picola United can continue to develop in 2025.
“I just think we’re really building in the right direction and everyone’s really hungry and fighting for that success,” he said.
“I think we’re turning into a bit of a destination club. We’ve got a fair few recruits on the cards at the minute, so we’ll be going extremely hard for next year and hopefully we can put it all together.”
The Game
Scores
Picola United: 2.1, 3.6, 4.6, 5.8 (38)
Tungamah: 2.3, 7.8, 9.9, 11.12 (78)
Goals
Picola United: Lachlan Collins 3, Daniel Maher, Austin Morgan
Tungamah: Lachy Thompson 3, Ashley Saunders 3, Wally Thomson 3, Josh Cheek 2
Best
Picola United: Zac Cockayne, Tom Daniel, Fraser Monahan, Daniel Maher, Sean Solar
Tungamah: Sam Ferguson, Jye Holcombe, James Reilly, Angus Ford, Josh Cheek, Justin Saunders
