World Footy News

The AFL London season came to a dramatic finale on Saturday 22nd August, with the annual Grand Final day producing some truly memorable footy across all three grades. For once the weather gave the perfect conditions and the rest was down to the players at the Barn Elms Reserve in London.

For the first time in recent memory, two clubs kept the finals between them and provided quite a spectacle. The Wandsworth Demons and West London Wildcats have enjoyed a great rivalry through their history and the effort on the pitch and support from the sidelines amply demonstrated just how much the game means to the clubs and the footy community.

In the Thirds, the South London Demons proved too strong for the Ealing Emus, with a four goal buffer at the siren. There was great battle across the oval for both teams, but the Demons' forward targets proved too much for the hard-working Emus.

The Conference honours had not left West London since the grade's inception 9 years ago, and with the strength of the Shepherds Bush Raiders squad this year, you'd probably be forgiven to expect this trend to continue. The Clapham Demons had other plans though, with a hard-running performance that took them past the Raiders and gave them a fourteen point victory come the end.

Finally was the big prize - the Premiership. The regular season had been the closest in AFL London history, with four teams finishing on level points. The West London Wildcats and Wandsworth Demons beat out the Putney Magpies and North London Lions to get the opportunity of the top prize.

The 'Cats were the defending premiers and with the pre-season victory in the ANZAC Cup and the third consecutive Brit Cup win showing the quality of their Aussies and Brits respectively, provide a great example to others of what to aim for with their footy. The Demons have enjoyed a very successful season and were hoping to carry on the buzz from the earlier two victories through the last match of the day.

The 'Cats started strongest, opening up a twenty point gap at quarter time, but a come-back by the Demons saw them close the gap at the half time siren, with more trademark hard running and great link-up play. The 3rd quarter proved decisive, with four unanswered goals from the Demons giving them the slenderest of leads at three-quarter time. The final quarter was a cracker, with huge groups of supporters and players behind each goal urging their teams on. First the Demons surging ahead, then the 'Cats fighting back from a two goal deficit to get their noses in front. In the finals minutes, the boys from West London scored the decisive major and at the siren took the game with a seven point gap.

A great day of footy, with honours going to both clubs. The breaking of the Raiders' run in the Conference, a Premiership final showing extraordinary quality of play and commitment - and another reminder that footy is here to stay....

....and not a single mention of the cricket anywhere ;¬)....

Scores:

Premiership Division

West London	4.1	7.2	7.8	11.8 (74)
Wandsworth	1.2	4.3	7.7	10.7 (67)

Conference Division

Clapham	3.1	4.2	6.3	8.5 (53)
Shepherds Bush	1.1	3.2	4.6	5.7 (37)

Social Division

South London	3.1	3.3	4.4	5.7 (37)
Ealing	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.2 (8)