The Scott Brackenridge coached, Forbes Under 14’s won the grand final in Young 7-2 on Saturday 29 August. Kick off was 9am, but fears of the boys starting cold evaporated when Parker Williams scored a scorcher following a mazy dribbling run through the Young defence. It was the first of two goals for the always brilliant Parker; Young had set up to defend with six at the back, but the early goal allowed Forbes to take advantage of their superior passing to keep the majority of first half possession. Henry Halls, playing in goals for the first half, had no real saves to make but showed his ability to distribute the ball from the back allowing Forbes to effectively counterattack. On one such occasion linking with Riley Press, who was a dynamo in the midfield, to set up Heath Longhurst for an excellent goal. Heath played with skill and speed throughout out and was able to bag another; rightly winning the MVP award. Forbes have been reliant on his goal scoring, not just in this game, but throughout the season. His older brother Lochie was another star performer, dictating the pace of the game, in the midfield and adding a further two goals to his season tally. On the left side of midfield Toby Dawes, performed well, tackling his opponents and keeping Young pinned in their own half. Along with Austin Hubbard, who kept fighting all game, undoubtedly two of Forbes most improved this season. The teams went in at half time with Young yet to score and the coach keen to keep it that way. It certainly was not the fault of any Forbes defenders when they did, with Rowan Mclelland showing that Scottish tenacity he is famous for. The decision to move to a back four with Ethan Browne as centre back and Lucas Brackenridge in a sweeper role had been a master stroke, meaning the teams with bigger and older kids, like Young, could not just kick the ball over the top and then run onto it. Lucas was a dynamo at the back making up for his physical size with a strong attitude. As in so many games though this season, Ethan Browne was the rock at the heart of the defence, effectively cancelling out the opposition strikers and it would take a somewhat soft penalty awarded to Young, for them to finally beat the deadlock. Zack Ziser, who had replaced Henry Halls in goals at half time, and who had already saved penalties this season, had no chance as Young looked to try and get back into the game. Hunter Maxwell was doing everything in his power to prevent that, belying his youthful age to compete with the bigger Young boys, while Sampson Tandy was his usual calming presence in the heart of the midfield. Sampson is certainly a captain of the future in the making. Levi Bernardi, making up the trio of younger boys who will have a chance to repeat the Grand Final winning feat next year as they are still under 14, was again terrier like in the tackle. Unfortunately, as the second half went on and tiredness started to play a part Forbes managed to lose a second and it appeared that Young may get back into it. In 2025 this team of Forbes players, playing in U12’s, managed to lose the final despite being the best team all season, and it looked like history might repeat itself till a moment of magic. Young had broken down field on the right and their striker rounding the goalkeeper with the open net in front, when Zac Cannon, who had just been substituted on, appeared to materialise from nowhere put in the sliding tackle of the season, saving a certain goal and raising the team morale just when it was flagging. It was then only down to Tom Walters to score a brace of his own, the first a fantastic, “top bins” shot in the right-hand corner from outside the box. Tom is another who has improved out of sight this season and picked up the coach's award in recognition of this. Forbes were well on top and looked like they could have scored a couple more when the final whistle went, 7-2 and a comprehensive win for Forbes.
