Tiki Pirates take out division one flag

THE Portland Touch Football Association’s 2023-24 season came to its grand conclusion on Thursday evening, with Tiki Pirates (pictured) taking out the division one premiership. Full write-up on PAGE 18, page of pictures on PAGE 14. (Back row, from left): Jessica Kennedy, Mikey Meaola, Josh Edwards, Sean Fulton. (Front row, from left): Rhys Weber, Ebony Stiles, Jenna-May Bristow, Dean Watson.

By Portland Observer

March 05, 2024 | 8:00 AM

TIKI Pirates have taken out the division one Portland Touch Football Association premiership with a nail-biting victory over Cougars in a game which went down to the very last seconds on Thursday night, 7-6.

The division on clash was back and forth throughout the whole game, with the Tiki Pirates holding a two-try lead at the half.

In the second half the two teams continued going try for try with the momentum being behind Cougars during the second half.

It ultimately came right down to the final play of the game, with Cougars earning a penalty as time expired so they had one final chance to tie the match and send it to overtime.

Ultimately, Tiki Pirates had the superior defence and were able to prevent their opposition from scoring to secure the premiership.

Tiki Pirates’ Sean Fulton said it was an incredible result for the team especially as they came into the game short on numbers.

“We had just one sub for the whole game, so we were coming into it pretty depleted, with people missing because of work commitments or injury,” Fulton said.

“We were coming up against a young side with a lot of energy, we were expecting it to be a war of attrition so we’re just glad to have held on.

“We were very happy to not go to overtime, if we’d had to play the extra few minutes, we might not have got over the line.

“Cougars were relentless, they’re a young side coming up against a lot of experience on our end, but they just kept going at it and didn’t take a backward step.”

Fulton said it was great for his team to have come together just at the start of the season and progressed all the way to the premiership, making a special note of the women who had taken part in the team’s success.

“Most weeks the women had to play the entire game without a sub, so it’s a credit to them that they fronted up every week knowing they were going to be out there the whole game… they were the backbone for us,” he said.

“It took a while for us to gel as a group, we have players from over in Mount Gambier who are used to a particular structured style of play so bringing that over to Portland I think really helped some of the Portland players.”

Dean Watson was named the most valuable player for the division one grand final.

Try scorers for Tiki Pirates: Rhys Weber 3, Dean Watson 2, Jenna-May Bristow 1, Sean Fulton 1.

Try scorers for Cougars: Charlie Keiller 2, Elijah Reeves 1, Hunter Keiller 1, Jayke Cannon 1, Patrick Mahon 1.

Division 2 Razzmatazz 9 defeated Thunder 6

This game was a story of two halves, with the first half being dominated by Elijah Ngati who scored four of his five tries in the first half as Razzmatazz who went into the half time break with a 6-2 lead.

Thunder started to mount the comeback in the second half but ultimately came up short as Razzmatazz won the division two grand final.

Elijah Ngati was named MVP for his five try performance in the grand final.

Try scorers for Razzmatazz: Elijah Ngati 5, Jared Goldsworthy 2, Jason Greening 2.

Try scorers for Thunder: Robert Biadacz 3, Simon Trewick 1, Erin Roll 1, Naueme Zaragosa 1.

Division 3 Fakari Rugs 9 defeated Purple Razz 6

Fakari Rugs jumped out to an early lead due to good team work and ball movement throughout the entire game, which kept them in front against Purple Razz.

At half time it was 4-2 in the favour of Fakari Rugs, however both teams began to score more freely in the second half.

Sadly for Purple Razz, they weren’t quite able to go all the way and produce a second half comeback, with Fakari Rugs holding on to claim the win.

Damien King scored a hat trick and secured MVP for the division three grand final.

Try scorers for Fakari Rugs: Damien King 3, Daniel Bennett 2, Darcy King 1, Jack Spencer 1, Shane Wilcox 1, Tai Wilcox 1.

Try scorers for Purple Razz: Michael Goldsworthy 2, Lucas Adams 2, Amber Keane 1, Cameron Holman 1.

End of season awards

Male MVP - Rob Biadacz 17 votes (runner up Cameron Gleeson 14 votes)

Female MVP - Amber Keane 14 votes (runner ups Emily Uebergang and Jenna-May Bristow 13)

Junior Male MVP - Elijah Ngati 10 votes (runner up Elijah Reeves 8 votes)

Junior Female MVP - Alice Barker 14 votes (runner up Jasmine Biadacz 8 votes)

Season Leading Try Scorers

Male: Cameron Gleeson 41 (runner up Rob Biadacz 37)