Border Mail |
ALBURY and Wangaratta tuned up for their Ovens and Murray Football League under-18 grand final re-match with big wins on Saturday.
The Tigers accounted for Wodonga Raiders by 126 points at Albury Sportsground and the Magpies, the premiers of the last two seasons, out-gunned Wodonga by 53 points at John Flower Oval.
Albury dominated from the outset against Raiders for a seven-goal lead at quarter-time.
Harry Tanner, Damon Poole and Chris Bridle were the architects of the Tigers victory and key forward Will McGrath again cashed in with seven goals.
The Tigers have been stretched by only one team to date, Wangaratta Rovers, who they beat in the preliminary final last year.
Wodonga Raiders were well served by Tate Spiteri, Josh Walters and Dillon Blaszczyk, who have all graduated from their under-16 ranks in recent seasons.
Wangaratta broke away from Wodonga in the second half of their clash.
The Magpies’ inaccuracy in front of goal prevented them from having a bigger lead than 13 points at half-time.
They broke the game open with a five-goal third quarter as Alex Dunstan, James Reilly and Lucas Woodward made their presence felt.
Woodward booted two goals and Zac Blackshaw kicked three to be Wangaratta’s most effective forward.
Wodonga was best served by key forward Jack Elkington, Will Stefani, Jordan Armstrong and Tom Botter.
The Magpies finished the match with 30 scoring shots to seven.
Corowa-Rutherglen registered its second win of the season with a 44-point win against Alpine Eagles at John Foord Oval.
The Roos took the upper-hand in the first term to lead by 20 points at quarter-time before the Eagles worked their way back into the game in the second to trail by only 13 points at half-time.
But the Roos bounded away in the third as forward Kodee Lowe became a factor and finished with five goals.
Other prominent players include Josh Clark, Jake Murphy and Jack Reynolds.
Justin Baldori, Dylan Piazza and youngster Luke Quirk battled hard for the Eagles.
A second-term blitz from Yarrawonga helped the Pigeons to a 20-point win against Lavington at the J.C. Lowe Oval.
The Pigeons slammed on six goals to one in the second to take control.
Damon Symes was outstanding for the Pigeons and Jacob Adkins and Liam Russell also played starring roles.
Chris Annett continued his excellent recent form for the Panthers.
A seven-goal haul from Alex Marklew helped Wangaratta Rovers to an 87-point against North Albury on Sunday.
