SWFL grand final: Hyde, Lenaghan stand tall as Carey Park breakthrough for ‘special’ flag against Busselton

A pair of final-quarter goals from key forward Brady Lenaghan and a Lynn Medal-winning performance by Griffin Hyde have steered Carey Park to their first colts flag in more than a decade. The 8.12 (60) to 8.4 (52) grand final win over Busselton was a major breakthrough for a club its colts coach says has been starved of recent success. “It was special,” Frank Italiano said. “It just feels like you’re up off your knees after a few years of struggling.” After a back-and-forth final term brimming with moments of brilliance, it was a smart bit of work from Lenaghan which proved decisive. Found one-out inside 50 against opposition skipper Ky Spowart, the Panthers forward tapped a ball over the back of his defender, ran onto it, and cruised in to an open goal — stretching the margin out to seven points with less than a minute to play. More SWFL: The goal came just moments after the league’s leading goal-kicker Ben Taylor brought the margin back to one point for the Magpies. They were just two of a number of headline moments in a thrilling final term as tired legs saw the game open right up. Kicking to the scoring end of the ground in the first term, goals to Brodie Macartney and Jack Barnes had the Pies up at the first break, and they would hold their lead in to half-time as Jack Brockliss took hold of the contest across half-back. WATCH THE FULL COLTS GRAND FINAL REPLAY HERE A brave switch by Italiano, swinging forward Jayden Collard back to play on imposing key forward Josh Harris would help stem the tide, at the same time as Hyde was deployed in the middle of the ground. Helped also by some impressive work by Chayse Martinson and Peter Woods, the Panthers would trim the margin back to one point at the final change. Italiano said Collard, who would change the game in his surprise role down back, was thrown there to counter the size of Busselton’s key forwards. “To sit in the hole in front of some of Busselton’s big boys takes courage. Taylor and big Harris, they come out quite quick, and they’re not small,” he said. He said a “special” performance from Hyde, which included six intercept marks as well as a number of clearances, was worthy of the medal. “He had a massive first half when we were really struggling, we weren’t playing good footy in the first half at all,” Italiano said. “He was good in the middle and then when we threw him back he kept intercept marking. “I was very proud.”