Sport
2 September, 2025
Navarre stun Talbot with late double to win final
Navarre has rocked the MCDFNL finals bracket by upsetting the high-flying Hawks right at the death to earn a spot in the preliminary final for the first time since 2018.
A clutch goal from Aaron Slorach gave the Grasshoppers a five-point lead with just over two minutes to go and it was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
A straight-sets exit out of finals is an agonizing end to an otherwise stellar season for the Hawks, hoping 2025 is the start of sustained success on the football field.
“It probably gives us a lot of confidence — we have shown signs of what we can do for glimpses throughout the year, but over the last fortnight we have strung it all together for four quarters,” Navarre senior coach Kyle Hendy said.
“The main thing we looked at after the last few games we played with them was shutting down their run and carry out of clearance and their ball use across half-back.
“Once they get one or two goals, they are happy to go on with it and can score quite quickly. We were able to shut that down and keep it more of a contested game of football, which helped us.”
While Navarre entered the match unchanged from their elimination final triumph over Dunolly, Talbot were without key forward Dean Limbach, replaced by Rhys Egan.
Looking to replicate their outstanding second half the week prior versus Carisbrook, the Hawks dominated the first five minutes with three scoring shots before the Grasshoppers achieved an inside 50.
However, they were made to pay for starting the game with three behinds when Slorach kicked the opening goal from a set shot after a remarkable diving mark.
After Zak Varley increased Navarre’s advantage to 13 points, Talbot finally got their deserved goal through Zac Cicchini.
Navarre’s Riley Bibby and Talbot’s Egan traded goals to end the quarter, with the Grasshoppers up by three points at quarter time.
That lead was erased when Jude McGuire put the Hawks in front at the three-minute mark of the second quarter, winning a 50/50 ball and dribbling it through.
After drawing level with three behinds, Bibby responded to McGuire’s major at the 10-minute mark for the Grasshoppers, giving his team a one-goal lead after an impressive contested mark and set shot conversion.
Despite being down a man following a yellow card midway through the period, the Grasshoppers threatened to create a sizeable gap between the two teams, controlling the end of the quarter.
However, similar to Talbot at the start of the first quarter, Navarre couldn’t take full advantage of the wind in their favour, kicking 2.6 for the term to limit their half time advantage to eight points.
The second half got off to a fast start with Talbot’s Adam Scott and Navarre’s Sam Rickard opening the goalscoring for their teams inside the first four minutes before Jarrod Stephens kicked his first goal for the Hawks to cut the deficit to two at the nine-minute mark.
Tempers began to flare midway through the term, which bubbled over at times, resulting in a second yellow card for Navarre.
Talbot took full advantage with Joshua Britten making full use of a 50 metre penalty to retake the lead for the Hawks.
Slorach would end the quarter with some clever tapwork to set up his third goal of the afternoon, but Talbot remained ahead by one point heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams threw everything they had left in the final quarter, looking to make the most of a golden chance to qualify for a preliminary final.
It was Talbot who drew first blood in the fourth, with Scott skillfully roving a marking contest and snapping truly to increase the Hawks’ lead to seven points.
After 19 minutes of gruelling and entertaining back-and-forth football, no one could answer Scott’s opener until an Angus Bade kick inside 50 dribbled past the leading Rickard, giving Slorach a chance to soccer the ball home.
However, an outstanding defensive effort from Kirk Lang touched Slorach’s effort off the boot, keeping Talbot in the driver’s seat.
With time ticking away, Navarre desperately needed a hero. From the following kick in, the Grasshoppers rebounded the ball back into the hands of Rickard, who snapped truly to make it a one-point ball game with four minutes left.
Then, from the ensuing centre bounce, Bade won a holding the ball free kick, found Varley on the forward flank who delivered to Slorach who took a clutch contested mark 30 metres from home.
With all the pressure on his shoulders, Slorach proved to have ice in his veins, slotting his chance to put Navarre up by five points.
Despite Talbot’s best efforts, Navarre managed to kill the clock to complete a famous victory, advancing to face premiership favourites Trentham on Saturday.
“We had 17 on the ground for 30 minutes of the game, which didn’t help, but we were able to hold that off, and we were happy to not go defensive and just keep trying to attack,” Hendy said.
“We still outscored them while we had 17 on the ground, that just shows the determination of everyone on the ground to hunt the football and play for each other.
“Once we got that last goal, we sort of had to play the percentages, try and keep it closer to the boundary so they couldn’t rebound and win the game.”