Weekly Times | SOME long-suffering country football fans will be praying their droughts are about to come to an end this weekend.
Lismore Derrinallum is yet to seal its first Mininera and District Football League premiership since merging in 1999, and was runner-up in 2003-04. Individually Derrinallum was last a premier in 1996 and Lismore was a decade earlier.
Standing in the Demons’ way is Tatyoon, a September specialist that has been runner-up on four occasions and won in 2011 since its 2006-08 three-peat.
Quambatook will need to bypass reigning premier Ultima to claim its first Golden Rivers premiership since 1997.
Darley has two-time reigning premier North Ballarat City blocking its path to its first Ballarat premiership, and first flag since 1995. The last time the Devils made the grand final was in 2008, when they suffered a five-point loss with a kick after the siren.
Rosedale goes into the North Gippsland league decider as the minor premier, chasing its first premiership for 14 years after being runner-up in 2006, 2010 and 2012, and Diggers Rest has its third consecutive crack at the Riddell District title it has not held since 1993.
The first South East league — formerly the Casey Cardinia league — premiership will be decided between Cranbourne and Berwick, which has been without a premiership since 1999.
But spare a thought for Horsham Saints.
The Saints — whose last premiership was in the Horsham and District Football League in 1991 when it was still known as St Michael’s — are chasing their first Wimmera league flag, having in recent memory finished runner-up in 2008, 2013 and last year.
Their opponent will be Horsham, which has won 11 of the past 12 Wimmera senior premierships. Horsham beat the Saints in last year’s decider.