Weekly Times | THE Glenrowan juggernaut continued to surge on in the Ovens and King Football League yesterday with the Kelly Tigers defeating King Valley by 48 points.
Glenrowan went into the match with a 6-0 start to the season, an average winning margin of close to 117 points and the best percentage of any senior country Victorian side of 519.8, having twice kept opponents to single-digit scores.
Yet yesterday’s match against the fifth-ranked King Valley was considered a danger game for the reigning premier.
Not only were the Kelly Tigers away from home, but third-year coach Nigel Robinson, who has overseen the team’s resurgence since a win-less 2012 season, said there were 11 players unavailable for senior selection.
Four of those were late withdrawals, including reigning club best-and-fairest Karl Norman (hamstring) and runner-up Nick Lawrence (illness).
But Glenrowan barely gave its hosts a look in, with Matt Duffy booting five goals in the 17.11 (113) to 10.5 (65).
Michael Monteith’s strong form continued in his fourth match back from a Round 1 shoulder injury, and Kelly Tigers vice-captain Joel Bihun was unrivalled in his drive to contest the football, according to Robinson.
The Roos’ Hayden Murray slotted four goals, and their standouts were defenders Adam Williams and Steve Beavis, and ruckman Simon Hunter.
Robinson said yesterday’s win was “pretty special”.
“There has been a lot of talk about our footy club, the way we’ve turned it around, they’re saying ‘You bring in the stars’ and all that sort of stuff,” Robinson said.
“From the outside you can look at a game like this and say they do have passion, the boys play hard, and even when the chips are down they can somehow grind out a win.
“That’s all I want us to be remembered for.”