On a day of great moment for our club, it was disappointing not to finish off the season with a win against Old Mentone, who prevailed by three goals in a shoot-out played in perfect conditions at Gillon Oval.

At the pre-match luncheon to pay tribute to the founders of the club, and the 1965 Senior and Reserves premiers in particular, we were congratulating Ron Rooney on coming to the end of his 26-year coaching career when he announced that our captain and superstar, Matt Keown, was playing his last game. The news was a shock but it was hoped it would spark the team to lift on recent performances.

Unfortunately the Panthers got the early jump on us and we were our own worst enemy with poor kicking for goal in the first quarter. Chris Horsley was the notable exception scoring both of our goals.

The second term was a high scoring affair. We snagged six, with Keown contributing three of them, but leaked easy goals at the other end to still trail at the main break.

The third quarter saw six lead changes as the teams went goal-for-goal for the first 20 minutes, before three late majors to the Panthers really hurt and would prove decisive in the end.

The Panthers then extended their lead to beyond 30 points early in the final term before we rallied strongly to close the gap to just 11 points with golden opportunity to get within a kick, but the set shot was missed. The ball then went down the other end and a horrible handball error gifted the Panthers the sealer.

The match could be seen as a microcosm of an under-achieving season – we played some quality football interspersed with basic errors and an inability to run out quarters.

Our better players on the day included most of our best for the year, namely Gerrard Bence, Keown, Pat Kelly, Lachlan Ezard and Mick O’Donoghue. Horsley and Danny King also continued with their good recent form.

Kelly deserves special mention for the run and carry he has added to his game this season, which was on display in spades on Saturday.

Even though we lost, it was fitting that Keown finished with five goals and yet another selection in the Division 1 team-of-the-year, along with star recruit Bence.

We now look ahead to 2016 with the search for a new senior coach and player recruitment our immediate focus. Thanks for all of the support for NOBSPC this year.