Tatura wins Bendigo Amateur Soccer League championship on final day, while Shepparton sides also record victories

The Ibises beat Spring Gully 4-1 to finish two points clear of Shepparton South on top of the table.

Last year’s grand final coup was a rush of elation, but achieving top dog status in the home and away season was more of a slow burn for Tatura.

Coach Thomas Corso has placed an emphasis on the finals, but wasn’t afraid to admit his boys were up and about after ticking the league mantle off a list of things to conquer.

“It was a massive win, we obviously didn’t put a whole lot of pressure on the game going into it,” Corso said.

“There were a few nervous boys, but I just tried to tell them it’s just another game ― no matter what happened they’ve done really good.

“We were pretty confident in ourselves going in, we knew we had targets on our backs, but we just did what we’ve been doing all season and got the win.

“Especially the young boys, they’re pretty excited to get that first place, minor premiers, to lead us into the finals.”

It was anything but smooth sailing for Tatura heading into the game.

The side lost swingman Thomas Leech to a hamstring injury pinged during a game of footy the day earlier.

And when Cody Sellwood pulled up 30 seconds into the clash the nerves began to seep in.

Corso’s game plan of going direct soon soothed the jittery start as Tristan Zito ― Sellwood’s replacement ― got in behind to establish the ascendancy.

Speedster Aaron Niglia took notes off Zito and scored a brace in similar fashion, but the flying Ibises were pegged back a touch as Joshua Woods netted for Spring Gully.

Tatura needed one more to kill the game and Gerald Corbo was the man to step up after half-time.

The young midfielder struck from outside the box and, though Corso conceded it wasn’t the cleanest hit, the host had its buffer.

Tatura held Spring Gully at bay in the final 20 minutes to quash any choking hazards, leaving Corso a happy man after his side followed its orders to the letter.

“Their weakness is their size and their strength and we just carved through that with a pretty direct approach,” Corso said.

“We knew they were very good with the ball, so we just tried to not let them have it essentially.

“We kept the ball for probably 75 per cent of the game and the aim was to get in behind them and let our quick boys do all the work.

“We saw that with Aaron (Niglia) and Tristan (Zito) abusing the pace, getting in behind and giving us a good early lead at the start.”

While Tatura’s championship win thrust the side onto cloud nine, it was slightly soured by Leech and Sellwood’s injuries.

However, two weeks off gives the Ibises ample time to prepare for a finals charge.

Corso has voiced his side is in a state of contentment ― not repletion ― after Sunday’s groundbreaking victory, but there is still a double up for grabs.

Unsurprisingly, that is precisely what they want to bring back to Howley Oval’s trophy cabinet come season’s end.

“We’ve sort of put the year into three seasons ― pre-season, the home and away season and then finals,” Corso said.

“We’ve been successful in two of those sections and now we get the opportunity to relax a little bit.

‘’We’ve got a couple of weeks to ourselves to block all the noise out, get back to work and approach the finals with a lot of confidence and not really anything to lose to be honest.“

At McEwen Reserve Shepparton United made light work of Colts United.

The Blues dined out on the competition’s wooden spooner as Ryan Brooks hit a 23-minute hat-trick, the scoreline later compounded by a Reza Baqiri brace as well as goals to Ali Naveed and Farid Azizi during the 7-1 win.

United has one game remaining; a catch up match against Epsom on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Shepparton South sent nine past Strathdale the day prior.

Ollie Bell, Jake Rumble and Sean Grant all doubled up on Saturday night, while Nick Mori, Will Keenan and Felix Onea etched their name on the scoresheet during the 9-2 pasting.

In the women’s first division, the Southerners collected three points over Strathdale in resounding fashion.

Sofia Stojanovski, Maya Vukcevic, Rosemarene Legalo applied finishes alongside a Strathdale own goal to seal the 4-0 win.

Tatura had no such luck as the Ibises were palmed off 5-2 by Spring Gully, while Trinity Cameron was the sole scorer for Shepparton United in a 6-1 loss to Colts.

Shepparton snagged the division two championship with ruthless efficiency as it cut La Trobe University Black to ribbons.

Josh Dimit bagged five goals to help Shepparton along to a 7-0 victory, marking a successful first season back in senior football for the Reds.