There’s no place like Scone
BY ALEX TIGANI
The Scone Thoroughbreds celebrated a grand final clean sweep on Sunday before a sea of home fans.
Adam Clydsdale’s first grade side stood superior when conquering the second placed Denman Devils in the 42-6 triumph before Daniel Ritter was named as the grand final’s man of the match.
It marked the club’s 31st first grade premiership, a century after their first title in 1922.
“A lot of people don’t realise this, Daniel has now won a first-grade premiership in three different decades after his first one as an 18-year-old in 2006,” Scone Thoroughbreds legend Tom Hagan told The Hunter River Times.
The line-up joins the club’s two recent undefeated first grade sides from 1979, a star-studded team featuring Adam’s father Jeff, and 2003, a force coached by the club’s current president Scott Pennell.
“Some people say to me why is Scone so successful, because we look after our juniors when they come here,” Pennell added.
“When you look at this year’s side there were only one or two players that didn’t play junior league at Scone.
“This shows why the football club has won the most grand finals ever.”
Earlier in the day the club won their sixth Monach Blues Tag title in seven attempts with a 24-4 win against Singleton, the under-18 side rectified a devastating major final loss with a 16-12 win over Aberdeen before they also held off the Tigers to capture their 16th reserve grade title with a thrilling 11-10 win.
On paper, the club’s six senior teams were all victorious when you add the Thoroughbreds’ under-16 grand final win over Singleton on Saturday while Ross Duggan’s under-16 girls league tag squad also prevailed over Denman in their final last month.
Jake Watts, Jack Pennell, Callum Dowell and Samantha Elphick were also crowned as leading point scorers in their respective grades.
Clydsdale was recognised as the first-grade player of the year, a no brainer according to four of his six opposing coaches.
However the individual accolades were outweighed by the team success for the two time premiership star.
He was able to share this one with his brothers Luke and Jake, who is bound for the Canberra Raiders, while the trio also applauded their cousin Josh Adams who celebrated his 200th first grade game.