Sale fell short of Gippsland League reserve grade glory for the second consecutive year at the weekend – and against the same opponent.

Leongatha again proved to be the Magpies nemesis on the big day, with a strong third term in the Grand Final ultimately seeing them to victory.

Those in the early game for the Parrots set a positive tone that their senior counterparts later followed, and defeated Sale 7.7 (49) to 4.4 (28) in the reserves decider.

Having finished on top of the ladder in the reserves, Leongatha took the shortest route possible to the Grand Final, accounting for Maffra in the second semi-final.

Sale had come from fifth to make the Grand Final, although remarkably, won 15 of their last 16 games after starting the year with a 0-5 win/loss record.

Come the big day, the Magpies loomed as the in-form team, and in the eyes of some, had been the best side in the reserves competition during the second half of the year.

Due to the finals pathway, Leongatha and Sale had not met since Round 10 – a thrilling game in which the Magpies won narrowly by a single point.

The Grand Final started evenly enough, and in true reserves fashion, only three goals were kicked in the first half despite perfect conditions.

The Parrots however made their running in the third term. Leongatha kicked five goals to two and took a 27-point lead into the final change.

Goals to Lachlan Wright kept the Magpies at bay, and while the Parrots only kicked two behinds in the last term, it was more than enough.

Leongatha’s Josh Schelling, in his trademark long sleeves, won the best-on-ground medal.

In nice scenes, he was presented the medal by his dad and South Gippsland Shire Councillor John (there representing the competition’s sponsor) – much to the amusement of his Leongatha teammates, who couldn’t help but jokingly boo him as he went on stage.

Others to play well were Kyle Brown, Ethan Lamers, Jarrod Stewart, Hayden Lindsay and league best-and-fairest Darcy Hume.

Best for Sale was Chris Byron, senior games record holder Chris Laverty, Tom Campbell, Jamie Sweeny, Andrew Campbell and Jordan Bourke.

Laverty won the reserves vote count on Sunday, while midfielder Jack McLaren took out the seniors following a breakout 2023 season.

Despite the result, Sale has performed remarkably well in the reserves over the last two years, making consecutive Grand Finals from outside the top three under the coaching of Peter Morrison.

Such performances are certainly a far cry from previous years, that saw the Magpies virtually uncompetitive at seconds level.

The reserves received great support from their senior counterparts on Grand Final day, with a large crowd gathered in the forward pocket at Morwell Recreation Reserve.