The Gambier Centrals Lions became the kings of the Steeline Limestone Coast Football Association for first time in five years after an unforgettable day in the sun at Casadio Park.

With long-time dominator International not making a familiar grand final berth, the 2021 decider was anticipated to be the most open in modern memory with the Lions taking on an emotionally charged Apollo.

The blue and white showed plenty of fight, but could not find a way past the resolute Centrals’ defence which was the driving force behind the 2-0 win.

The fourth premiership cup sits proudly alongside the Steeline Cup won earlier this year in the trophy cabinet at MGA Park and the silverware shows off a near-perfect 2021 for the Lions.

Centrals’ coach Chris Fleetwood was proud as punch after completing a long-awaited premiership on a day the Orange Army will never forget.

“We have only won six premierships in 50 years, so it is huge for the club,” he said.

“It is a tremendous effort from everybody.

“The groundwork was done during the preseason, but I kept telling the boys to keep believing.

“It is sweet for many players like Cam Saint and Mitch Cutting who have continuously came second and third to look back and say we have done the double in 2021.

“We had to find some courage and to do it on a neutral ground as well makes it even more impressive.”

The Lions entered the winner-takes-all fixture as favourites after a strong home-and-away season and qualifying final win over Inter.

But they would have been wary of the threat posed by Apollo which was the only team to beat the men in orange this year.

After the national anthems were sung with club MiniRoos mascots by their side, almost five months of toil during the 2021 season went down to 90 minutes and both sides attacked the ball hard from kickoff.

The likes of Cam Saint and Christian Fleetwood started to wrestle some possession in the midfield to make the Lions more threatening with attacking wingers Lewis March and Broc Linden getting into the game.

It only took 14 minutes for Centrals to make the first move and Saint showed why he is a leader.

The Lions smelt blood from a corner and the captain was perfectly placed near the right post to receive a short pass from March and chip the ball over the crowded defence and into the back of the net.

The strike eased Centrals’ nerves and put the side in the box seat to win.

Desperate to stay alive Apollo continued to press through the midfield brigade of captain Tobbei Kennett and Jack Donehue.

However, the Lions’ defensive line of Craig Wright, Justyn Saint, Brayden Coppick, Brody Koop, Mitchell Cutting and keeper Steven Hughes was impregnable, even for a striker as dangerous as Say Wah.

The closest the blue and white got to finding the back of the net was deep into the second half when Hughes was sucked in and Caine Ellis had an open shot at goal, but missed to the left.

Fleetwood said his compact defenders led by best-on-ground Cutting were the biggest heroes behind the win.

“We had to dig deep to defend for long periods of time which is credit to Apollo because they put a lot of pressure on us,” he said.

“We have conceded the least amount of goals all year and that is because of the way we defend.

“We changed the way we approached defensively after last year and worked hard in the preseason.

“I think we only had one save, so we made their keeper work a lot more.”

Although Apollo remained only one goal down, a Centrals victory was on the horizon as the 80th minute ticked over.

However, Apollo goalkeeper James Kipping cracked under pressure during a one-on-one duel with Sam Shoemark and received a red card after desperately grabbing the striker’s leg.

Although the penalty was saved by Kipping’s replacement Jesse Widdison, he could not stop the rebound from March and at that moment Fleetwood knew the game was won.

“I thought then the stars are aligning for us and people wanted us to win because at that stage Apollo was still in the game,” he said.

“But all of a sudden the keeper had a brain fade and it changed everything.”

Despite the comfortable 2-0 win, ominously Fleetwood was not completely satisfied with his team’s performance.

He said there was still work to do to perfect the playing style, but believed an orange era could be coming.

“We did not play that well, but did enough to get the job done,” he said.

“At times today we looked sloppy, turned the ball over and were not clinical finishing upfront which kept Apollo in it.

“We made it hard for ourselves, but the squad is in a very good place with young kids coming through.

“We still have loads of work in terms of what runs we make, but we have done the double and I think we can play better.

“It could be the start of the Centrals’ era with good things happening on and off the pitch.”