THE Portland Touch Association’s 2022-23 season came to an end on Thursday night at Henty Park, with two hard fought division one and two grand finals producing some exciting matches.

In the division one grand final the two teams could not be separated, forcing the game into a drop off overtime periods, with Cougars eventually claiming the title 11-10 over Al-Tryeda.

These two teams were so very evenly matched throughout this game, trading tries from start to finish, with Al-Tryeda holding on to a 6-5 lead going into the halftime break.

Cougars then outscored Al-Tryeda in the second half 5-4 which led to the game ending in a draw, which meant the game went into a drop off overtime (4v4).

Both teams continued to buckle down, and the first five minutes on the clock in the drop off period went by without a score.

The game opened up once it dropped to 3v3, and this opened to door for Cougars’ Charlie Keiller to score the game winning try on a full field break away.

Keiller was named best on ground for the division one grand final, but said the win came down to a fantastic team effort.

“The whole team fought really hard, and you can see it with how tired we are (after the game),” he said.

“Just sticking it out throughout the whole contest, that was what got us over the line.”

He added that it had been a relief for the side to get on top on this occasion, after falling short against the same side last time.

“They’re a fantastic team, we probably knew for a lot of the season that it was going to be between us for the premiership,” he said.

“They beat us earlier in the year, but we always knew it was going to be a tough fight in this final… it’s good that we’ve been able to make it one-all between us now.”

Try scorers for Cougars: Charlie Keiller 5, Jock Keiller 3, Elijah Reeves 1, Eloise Adams 1, Jayke Cannon 1

Try scorers for Al-Tryeda: Rhys Weber 4, Reece Williams 2, Josh Edwards 2, Dylan Jennings 1, Ebony Stiles 1

Division two grand final

Tiki Pirates 6 defeated Atwells Angels 4

This game needed to go into a drop off overtime also, with the two teams being so evenly matched that they just went back and forth for the whole game.

The scores at halftime were 1-1 and in the second half both teams continued to trade tries right up to the final siren, with normal time ending with the scores all knotted up at 4-4.

In the drop off overtime the Pirates managed to hit the scoreboard twice to secure a thrilling win and thus the division two premiership.

Josh Atwell (Atwells Angels) was named the best on ground.

Try scorers for Tiki Pirates: Zakia Eichler-Onus 2, Sandy Trace 2, Ceejay Durbidge 1, Michael Meaola 1

Try scorers for Atwells Angels: Josh Atwell 2, Jack Cocks 1, Simon Merrett 1

Season awards

MVP

Male MVP: Charlie Keiller (runner-up: Rob Biadacz)

Female MVP: Stephanie Evans (runners-up: Ebony Stiles, Eloise Adams, Skye McIntosh)

Junior Male MVP: Zakia Eichler-Onus (runners-up: Lewis Hameka, Elijah Reeves, Elkanah Meaola, Eleazar Meaola)

Junior Female MVP: Eloise Adams (runner-up: Jenna-May Bristow)

Scoring leaders

Male: Charlie Keiller 36 (runner-up: Rob Biadacz 35)

Female: Stephanie Evans 20 (runner-up: Skye McIntosh 12)

Junior Male: Elijah Reeves & Zakia Eichler-Onus 20 (runner-up: Xavier Cox 14)

Junior Female: Eloise Adams 8 (runner-up: Harriette Eichler 6)

Paul Beattie Spirit of Touch award

Jasmin Trewick and Jasmine Biadacz

The association will now host a series of informal social matches over the next month, with all-comers welcome to head down to Henty Park and have a go each Thursday at 6pm.