Tatura’s seniors proved near-unstoppable in 2024, claiming the championship in emphatic fashion. (Photo: Tatura Soccer Club Facebook)
It’s been a good year to be part of Tatura Soccer Club, but Bendigo Amateur Soccer League grand final day hammered that home and then some.
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The Ibises came, saw and conquered on the long trip out to Strathsfieldsaye for the final day of action for 2024.
Far and away the dominant overall outfit across all three men’s divisions in the top flight, Tatura’s youth side was first off the rank in a Sunday morning decider against a La Trobe University side that had claimed the minor premiership on goal difference.
As one would expect, it was a cagey opening, with each side the only one to have truly troubled the other throughout the two-horse race of a season.
Scoreless at the break, more serious questions were asked in the second half but, with Angus Williams finding the back of the net for La Trobe, it was young Ibis dynamo Xavier Black who yet again fired home as the sides went into extra time.
Perhaps deservedly, 120 minutes proved insufficient to separate these two powers, with penalties an apt conclusion to the struggle.
Tatura proved slick from the spot, though, claiming the first title on what would become a highly memorable day.
The Tatura youth side had to take its full measure, but got the club off to a winning start on grand final day. (Photo: Tatura Soccer Club Facebook)
As that action wrapped up, the Ibises kicked off with Shepparton South in the reserves final on the second pitch, a clash between the two sides that had controlled the seniors a year earlier.
South boasted league top scorer Jonathan Kafwija among its ranks, but it was Joseph Busiello with a strike to challenge Tatura early, with the two sides going into the sheds level at a goal each.
The difference proved to be a brace from Zach Ferlauto, whose double drew him level alongside Kafwija with 13 goals for the year as the Ibises proceeded to lift their second cup of the day after a 3-1 win.
Tatura’s reserves made it two from two in the middle of the day by knocking over Shepparton South in the grand final. (Photo: Tatura Soccer Club Facebook)
The only major element of the day that didn’t involve the red and white force, though, was the women’s decider, which saw Shepparton United meet Spring Gully United on the main pitch.
Well, not that red and white force, at least, but those colours nonetheless adorned the women’s premiership cup after Spring Gully edged ahead and held on to deny the travelling girls in blue, prevailing 1-0.
With that hard-fought result, Spring Gully had completed the women’s treble as league premiers, champions and cup winners for the first time in club history — with United coming up second-best on all three occasions.
The stage was then set for the senior men’s decider, with Tatura back in action against an Eaglehawk side that had provided stern challenges despite failing to come away with a result in 2024.
The ever-dangerous Caden Meeks made his impact felt once more for the Borough, notching his eighth goal of the campaign to ensure the runaway premiers were asked their share of questions.
There was simply no answer for the Ibises’ raft of potent attacking options, though, going into the main break 2-1 up and coasting on a brace to Gerald Corbo — while Fraser Gosstray’s pair enabled him to finish seven clear at the top of the scoring charts with 23 — to comfortably complete the 4-1 rout.
It was a grand final Sunday that proved statements Tatura had been making at almost all levels throughout the year — the Ibises are in the midst of an immovable new era in northern Victorian football.
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