{"id":243283,"date":"2019-09-04T23:35:22","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T13:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=243283"},"modified":"2020-07-18T11:50:59","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T01:50:59","slug":"panthers-celebrate-double-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/09\/04\/panthers-celebrate-double-wins\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers Celebrate Double Wins"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nanango captain Kieran Mangan holds aloft the Men’s Division trophy at the South Burnett’s 2019 football Grand Finals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 4, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nanango Panthers’ fans are celebrating after their teams took out both the men’s and women’s titles at Saturday’s grand finals of the South Burnett senior soccer competition.<\/p>\n

The victories top off a gruelling 15-round season followed by three weeks of finals.<\/p>\n

The wins marked a return to form for the Panthers, who missed out last year when the women’s team was narrowly defeated by Barambah, and the men failed to secure a grand final berth after taking out the top honours the previous seven years.<\/p>\n

Both matches were played in Nanango on the unfamiliar turf of rugby league’s Fred Kassulke Oval.<\/p>\n

The change of venue enabled the men’s game to be played under lights as well as providing a licensed bar and canteen for spectators.<\/p>\n

The clubhouse was decked out with blue and white streamers and fans made sure the Nanango teams had lots of hometown support on the sidelines.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Women’s Division<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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The Panthers could finally relax after a nail-biting penalty shootout to determine the winner of the Women’s Division grand final<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The day began with the Women’s Division Grand Final between the Panthers and Barambah.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Barambah were the first to draw blood.<\/p>\n

Unwilling to wait for the Panthers to launch their signature synchronised attacks, the Bears decided to pile on the pressure early.<\/p>\n

This decision quickly paid off for the northerners when Bears’ captain Elle Mollenhauer found a hole in the big cats’ defences barely five minutes into the match to open her side’s account.<\/p>\n

She was followed soon afterwards by team-mate Sarah Kemp, who effortlessly blitzed a second goal past the seemingly bewildered Panthers’ defenders.<\/p>\n

When Sarah repeated this feat another 10 minutes into the first half with an ankle-jarring shot, the gravity of being 3-nil down in a grand final with three-quarters of the match still to be played seemed to dawn on the blue-and-whites.<\/p>\n

From that point on, the Panthers visibly stepped up their game, showing the form that has made the side one of the deadliest in the competition.<\/p>\n

Barambah kept the action focussed on the Panthers’ half of the field during the\u00a0early stages of the match.<\/p>\n

The tables turned at the midway point of the first half, with Barambah only able to make limited sorties on to enemy turf.<\/p>\n

However, the Panthers found themselves unable to improve their situation before half-time, going into the break down 3-0.<\/p>\n

This was quickly reversed soon after the action resumed.<\/p>\n

Maxine Evans opened Nanango’s account with a deftly pocketed rocket, and she was followed by veteran Raegan Campbell and captain Alex Psarros as the match wore on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a three-all when the whistle blew, which led to a bout of extra time during which the scoreline remained stubbornly the same.<\/p>\n

The only solution was the dreaded penalty shoot-out.<\/p>\n

The shootout had both teams level pegging on the first two balls, then both teams missed a goal, before the Panthers finally clinched the match on the fifth attempt.<\/p>\n

Panthers’ coach Cass Kelly said she felt sorry for the Bears, who played a valiant game.<\/p>\n

The two teams had faced off at last year’s Grand Finals, where Barambah had put an end to the Panthers’ two year reign at the top of the Women’s competition.<\/p>\n

“It’s always good to win,” Cass said, “but a penalty shootout is the worst way to lose, especially in a grand final.”<\/p>\n

Panthers’ captain\u00a0Alexandria Psarros singled out two of her youngest players, Bec and Montana, who put in “a marathon effort”.<\/p>\n

Barambah captain Elle Mollenhauer congratulated the Panthers but said her team had done an awesome job.<\/p>\n

“I’m not even that upset what we lost because it was such an awesome game,” she said.<\/p>\n

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The Barambah Bears put in a top performance in the grand final and only just missed out on hoisting the trophy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Panthers’ captain Alex Psarros with the Grand Final trophy … Alex also was named Player of the Grand Final and took home the Best and Fairest trophy for the season<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Grace Christoffel, from Barambah, won the Rising Star award<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
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Raegan Campbell won the Golden Boot trophy for top goal scorer of the season<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Men’s Division<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Nanango Panthers celebrate their seventh grand final win in eight years<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Kieran Mangan salutes after scoring for Nanango<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nanango faced off against arch-rivals Gunners in the second grand final played on Saturday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year, the withdrawal of several senior Panthers players to take part in the Toowoomba competition left the side struggling as juniors worked their way through a long apprenticeship in First Division.<\/p>\n

But it was a different story this year and\u00a0on Saturday, Nanango proved their 2019 form was no fluke.<\/p>\n

The in-form Gunners fell to the Panthers’ assaults in the first half, leaving holes in their defence that Nanango had no hesitation exploiting.<\/p>\n

Harry Sterling was the first to find an opportunity to open Panthers’ account, followed soon afterwards by Ryan Harper and Kieran Mangan.<\/p>\n

This left the Panthers with a 3-nil lead at half-time.<\/p>\n

Gunners came out in the second half with a tightened defence that cooled the Panthers’ attack, although Sterling still managed to notch up his second goal for the match.<\/p>\n

Gunners’ efforts were finally rewarded when Brad Edwards chested the ball into the opposition’s nets but in the end, Panthers took the title 4-1.<\/p>\n

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Gunners are 2019 runners-up in the Men’s Division … but there’s always next year!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dual goalscorer Harry Sterling was named Player of the Grand Final<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
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Barambah’s Jackson Kelly\u00a0won the Golden Boot trophy for top goal scorer of the season<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Nathan Copas, from Gunners, was awarded the Rising Star trophy<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n
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Pete Collins was presented with the Best and Fairest season trophy<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Retired senior referee David Bloomfield presented retiring ref Dawn Millard with a thank you gift … Dawn has been overseeing soccer matches for Football South Burnett for 11 years<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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David Bloomfield also thanked long-serving referee Peter Janz who retired this season<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Related articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n