Border Mail |
WITH a flock of Pigeons flying north, and star forward Brad O’Connor on report, Yarrawonga’s depth will be sorely tested in this week’s blockbuster against Lavington.
Champion Craig Ednie, ruckman Steve McKeee, defender Luke Hammond and Marc Lonergan will all miss against the in-form Panthers due to a family wedding in Cairns.
For the second successive week, the Pigeons kept the opposition to a record-low score as they romped away to a 101-point win over Myrtleford at McNamara Reserve on Saturday.
It was a match that rarely reached great heights, due to the Saints’ scoreboard lockdown where they were content to keep the opposition from any free-flowing scoring system.
While that may have worked for three ugly quarters, it also exposed the Saints’ inability to kick goals themselves.
Their only two goals came in the third term.
The Pigeons dominated the final quarter, slamming on 8.7 to nothing as McKee, Ednie, Xavier Leslie and Jeremy O’Brien dominated play.
Man of the match was Yarrawonga’s full-back, Jarrod Thompson, who showed why the wraps were so huge upon his arrival at J.C. Lowe Oval.
Thompson had 28 possessions and was outstanding with his run and left-foot kicks.
At the other end, Myrtleford’s Luke Chapman played a key role on containing Brendan Fevola to just two goals — his lowest return in the Ovens and Murray.
Yarrawonga co-coach Chris Kennedy said while players will miss next week, others will be given their chance to step up.
“You can’t replace a player like Ednie but we have full confidence in our squad to do the job,” Kennedy said.
“Today we have won by over 100 points and we weren’t the ones playing ugly.
“Over the last two weeks our defence has been fantastic, yet, in the five games played so far we have kicked more points than goals.
“We’re going to get caught out in big games if we don’t nail our opportunities.”
Winless Myrtleford, meanwhile, is confident it can break through this week against Corowa-Rutherglen.
The Saints will get a massive boost ahead of that game, with Christian Burgess and Hugh Wales returning from the VFL along with Murray Bushrangers Mitch Dalbosco and James Taberner.
Co-coach Leigh Corcoran said, scoreboard aside, he was pleased with his teams’ efforts.
“We played together as a team and had endeavour to do the team things and it actually worked for a fair extent of the game.”
