Weekly Times |BRENDAN Fevola resigned as Ovens and Murray coach immediately after its 10-point loss to the Peninsula league in the WorkSafe Country Championships on Saturday.
Ovens and Murray dropped to fifth in the Victorian country football league rankings after the loss, and awaits a rematch against the Hampden league next year.
Fevola was knocked out in a third-quarter clash at Albury and said he had no recollection of returning to the field in the last quarter.
The hosts were 21 points down at three-quarter time but edged in front in the last term before Peninsula scored to lock in another crack at earning the No. 1 ranking next year.
Fevola, also Yarrawonga's co-coach, said on paper he believed he had a better interleague side than last year when he first coached Ovens and Murray.
"We had a great team, we just didn't play well," he said.
It will take Ovens and Murray at least three years to work its way back into a position to play for the No. 1 ranking, a position Fevola wanted to get it to next year.
"You say you're going to do something and don't do it, my theory is you step down and let someone else have a crack," he said.
Fevola also defended his decision not to select league best-and-fairest Kristan Height, from Myrtleford, saying it was either Height or Lavington's Matt Pendergast.
Pendergast turned out to be one of the standouts for Ovens and Murray and the coach described him as "the first bloke I picked out of the whole 21".
"You can't have 16 midfielders in the one team," Fevola said. "I thought we had the right balance and it nearly worked out that we did, but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter who won the (best-and-fairest) medal."
Peninsula coach Troy Shannon was thrilled with the buy-in from his players this year, including former AFL player Aaron Edwards, who cut short his Bali holiday to play.
Shannon guaranteed he would be at the rematch against the Geelong league next year, whether as coach or water boy.
"There's still another game to go now," he said.
"That was part of it; we changed the mindset of rep footy on the Peninsula from previous years and although it was never going to take 12 months ... we think we've created a bit of momentum and we just have to keep it rolling on."
