THE Hamilton Kangaroos Under-18.5 team created history, winning the club’s first Hampden Football Netball League (HFNL) football premiership on Saturday.

The Kangaroos went into the decider as favourite, having beaten Koroit the last two times they played, as plenty of blue and white descended on Warrnambool’s Reid Oval in a bid to secure the ultimate honour.

Hamilton had an early win, winning the coin toss and kicking with the wind in the first quarter, but the town end saw little scoring action, as both teams took time to feel each other out.

The first quarter ended without a goal scored, as the Saints edged clear by a point despite plenty of repeat entries from the Kangaroos.

The Saints battled hard in the second term and made the most of the aiding conditions, kicking two goals to Hamilton’s one to go into the main break leading by five points.

Kangaroos coach, Luke Uebergang, continued to back his team in, as the locals looked to put scoreboard pressure on Koroit in the third quarter.

Ethan Knight and Deacon White grabbed control of the midfield battle at the midway point of the quarter, as the Roos piled on three goals in a short period to grab the lead and add to it late to go into the final break leading by 14 points.

It was a defensive contest throughout the final term, as Koroit tried to find space and a goal in the opening minutes saw the Saints close the gap.

A scrappy final few minutes up Koroit’s end of the ground saw the Kangaroos hang on to claim victory, 6.7 (43) to 5.7 (37).

Roos skipper, Zach Burgess collected the Ted Parker Medal, while Knight was presented the AFL Victoria Country medal.

Will Hunter was the Roos’ best forward option, finishing with three goals.

Burgess said it was a special feeling to create history with his teammates.

“It is unbelievable, I am speechless,” he said.

“We worked so hard for it, I am so proud of the boys.”

With some desperate defence late, Burgess backed in his defenders to hold up under the pressure.

“Even our forwards were down in their forward 50 defending, we knew they would come hard,” he said.

“I thought Marcus Matuschka was outstanding down back as well.”

Uebergang said the midfield battle was pivotal and the burst late in the third term set up the win.

“I knew we were a little bit bigger than them, so we could dominate the contested footy,” he said.

“I think Ethan Knight started to get a bit more active at the centre bounces and those clearances let us have better looks at goal.

“We just didn’t quite take our opportunities in the first and second quarters, but we kept at it.”