Round 17 Review
Round seventeen of the SS&A OMFNL proved to be the most lopsided round of the football season with the average winning margin of the four games being just under 15 goals.
The five finals teams are all but sorted, with the minor premiership up for grabs between Albury and Yarrawonga, and North Albury needing a miracle to knock out the Wangaratta Rovers.
Albury has managed to reduce the gap to just under 5%, down 2% from the previous week. North Albury would need to defeat the Rovers in Round 18 by 136 points to take the fifth spot.
The Pigeons were confirmed as premiership favourite after they obliterated Wangaratta Rovers by 80 points at the JC Lowe Oval.
Yarrawonga was led by dominant forward displays from Matt Casey (5 goals) and Leigh Williams (4 goals) and a Willi Wheeler clinic kicked thirteen first-half goals to put the contest away early.
With Harry Wheeler, Bailey Fraunfelder, and Mark Whiley to return the Pigeons are well placed under the coaching of Steve Johnson to go one better than last year’s loss in the decider.
The Rovers suffered more injuries and will go into this week’s final home game against North Albury with more of an eye on the following week’s elimination final.
Albury after a slow start turned up the power in the second half to hammer Wodonga by 77 points at the Albury Sportsground and keep alive their minor premiership tilt.
Wodonga led 3-2 to 2-3 at quarter time but only kicked one more goal after that as they were hit by a run of hamstring injuries to Matt Soroczynski, Rhys Venturoni and Jack Yelland.
Angus Baker also left the ground in the third quarter with a calf complaint. The Dogs will be hoping veteran defender Tom Johnson can make a return for finals.
The Tigers were clinical after quarter time with Jacob Conlan starring with six goals and the midfield of Jake Page, Jake Gaynor, Riley Bice and Elliot Powell dominating.
Wangaratta completed its home and away season with a 117-point win over Myrtleford with Morris medal contender Cal Moore again the headline act with eight goals.
Moore has kicked 29 goals in the last three matches and has taken a comfortable lead for the Doug Strang Medal over nearest rival Leigh Williams of Yarrawonga 75 goals to 63.
Daniel Sharrock and Luke Saunders topped the possession count for Wangaratta, while young guns Joe Berry and Hunter Gottschling were prominent.
Simon Curtis was the Saints’ best along with Ashton McPherson, Mitch Dalbosco and Rhys Grant. Will McKerral enjoyed a good tussle with Pies big man Chris Knowles.
Lavington registered its biggest win of the season when they overran the Wodonga Raiders after half-time winning by 77 points.
The Panthers with one of their most inexperienced sides in its history played a brilliant brand of football with all the debutants featuring in the goalkickers and impacting the game.
Jack Costello, Ethan DePaola, and Harrison Thomas were on debut while Charlie Sanson, Oscar Lyons and Judd McLeod have all played just a handful of senior matches.
Lavington’s midfield of Shaun Driscoll, Ewan Mackinlay, Billy Glanvill and Tom Hargreave was in everything while Tim Hanna kicked three goals.
Nick Bracher, Indhi Kotzur, Cooper Daly, Brad St John and Nelson Bowey were best for the Raiders who badly missed the midfield grunt of Cam Ellis-Yolmen.
Things were a lot closer on the netball court with Lavington coming from six goals down at halftime to level scores at three-quarter time and then win 54-49.
The win has all but secured the double chance for Lavington who play sixth-placed Albury this week. Raiders are now destined to play the elimination final.
Wangaratta secured second position with a solid showing against Myrtleford winning a low-scoring tussle 38-29 with defender Brooke Pryse best on the court.
The Magpies responded to some midweek training feedback to show that their best game is as good as any other. Bec Piazza was the best for the Saints with 20 goals.
Albury led by a dazzling display from goal shooter Lilli Howe with 43 goals proved too strong for Wodonga winning by eighteen goals. Lisa French shot 28 goals for the visitors.
Yarrawonga chalked up a season-high goal tally in its comfortable 76-35 win over Rovers. Madeleine Allan returned to form with 35 goals for the Pigeons, while Sammy Kreltszheim potted 18 for the Rovers.
