COLERAINE has won the inaugural Greater South West Junior Football League Under-16.5 premiership with a decisive 59-point win against Heathmere Tigers at Silvester Oval on Thursday night.

The Maroons had home ground advantage for the postponed decider and made good use early on, jumping out of the blocks with a six-goal opening quarter, while the Combine could only manage three at the other end.

Scoring dropped off after quarter time, but Coleraine still won the second term on the scoreboard, kicking two goals to one, to take a 32-point lead into the main break.

Heathmere Tigers continued to try and generate some momentum after half time, with both teams kicking two goals each, but the Maroons were too good in the end, running away 13.18 (96) to 6.1 (37) winners.

Coleraine coach, Paul Bosch said it was great to see the team get rewarded for their persistence during the season.

“I would say it was more an overall performance, those who were asked to play roles did them well,” he said.

“The crowd, the atmosphere, it was just one of those nights. I think everyone left pretty satisfied.

“To play it in front of the home crowd made it even better to win the first premiership in the league.”

Despite the scoreline, it was not a game that was always on Coleraine’s terms.

There were periods during the game where the Combine got on top and Bosch just reminded the team that they needed to get back to basics.

“Heathmere Tigers probably played their best game for the year, they really brought the pressure onto us,” he said.

“It was a very physical contest but played in good spirits.

“We came a bit unstuck in the second term, so just told them to relax and they had a buffer on the scoreboard, but the game style was pleasing and we were back to that in the third quarter.”

Getting off to a fast start was also a key message for the group, with the team often starting slow and grinding out wins later in the game.

Bosch said it was a focus for the team to start quickly, knowing they had the legs to run out a full game at high intensity.

“We have a bad habit of not starting strong, so it was a point made to the group to get out of the blocks quickly,” he said.

“We knew that we had the legs, so we just kept pegging away and ran the game out and we knew weren’t going to run out of steam.”

Hamiora Hiroti was named best on ground for the game, while there were others who also stood out for the Maroons during the season decider.

“We changed Bailey Cooper from a true centre half-forward to a sweeping wingman and he was tremendous, Nick Lambert also stood up, as the co-captains should,” he said.

“Hami, who was the only best on ground in a grand final for the year, that in itself is a privilege, and we talked about the privilege that they were even able to play.

“The win is just great for the Coleraine community.”