Tathra is yet to claim a SCAFL women’s premiership after a shock loss to Eden in the grand final.
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The Sea Eaglettes were the competition favourites and had defeated the Whalers by 100 points just two weeks before.
But the Tathra side was foiled by a howling icy wind and a transformed Eden outfit.
The Whalers claimed a strong late finish to secure the result
Eden flipped their performance from the major semi-final and fired to an early lead before the Sea Eagles could rally.
The Eagles began the game with the wind at their backs, but could only find a few attacking opportunities as the Whalers flooded the goal square defensively.
The Eagles kicked a solitary major, but were put on the back foot when Eden fired back against the wind to trail by just a solitary point at the break.
Cymmon Parker and Elouise Russell continued their strong partnership through the middle to battle some of Eden’s best in Ally Crowe and Mel Mitchell.
Meanwhile, Sam Crowley had support from Jane Andrew and Sharri Manning in pushing play forward for Tathra.
Eden’s long range gifted them a big boost in the second quarter, where they found a pair of goals to lurch ahead.
The Eaglettes rallied and replied in kind with their own goal to keep the margin down, but trailing by five at the main break was a far cry from the points lead Tathra had held in previous encounters.
Tathra rallied in the third quarter and needed to push hard with the wind at their back for the last time in the match.
They were able to keep the Whalers scoreless, but could only find a solitary goal and a behind to lead by just two points at the break.
A stray behind early to Eden saw Tathra holding the edge by just a single point.
However, the Whalers found a long-range goal to steal the lead and – while Tathra battled valiantly – Eden took control to pile on two more goals and pull clear.
With just minutes to play the Eagles found one goal, but didn’t have the time on the clock to pull back.
The Whalers were not the only surprise winners with the Pambula Panthers getting over the Narooma Lions in first grade.
The Panthers shook the Lions early and held a 25 point lead at the main break, but momentum grew for the hosts to blow out the scoreline 17-15-117 to 7-8-50.
Earlier, the Panthers had also done in the Lions in the reserve grade, but that result fell where the pundits had been betting.