Round 2 Preview

Round four was completed on Saturday with the highlight being the sensational match at Myrtleford and two impressive games from sixteen-year-olds.

 The home side grabbed its first win of the season when they defeated the previously unbeaten Wangaratta Rovers by one point in a gripping contest.

 The only downer on the day was a severe concussion injury to young Rover’s wingman Will McCarthy in the final seconds of the game after winning a free kick for a solid in-the-back tackle.

 When time off was blown there were just seven seconds left in the game with the ball 70 metres from the Rovers goal – after a 30-minute delay the game was called off with no further play.

 The latest report from Wangaratta Rover’s trainers was that a CT scan cleared McCarthy of any structural damage, with a severe concussion as the diagnosis.

 Just fifty seconds before that Declan Bren had roved a ball off a pack to snap a goal from 25 meters out to put the Saints in front by one point.

In a breath-taking contest, the third quarter served up twelve goals with Myrtleford coming from 24 points down at the five-minute mark to hit the front at the last change.

 The last quarter was played on a knife edge throughout with Toby Murray slotting a goal with seven minutes left to put Rovers in front before Bren sealed the deal.

 The Saints had numerous four-quarter performers with midfielders Brody Ricardi, Mitch Dalbosco and Simon Curtis huge in the comeback.

 Riley Sharp was sensational up forward with four goals, while sixteen-year-old defender Ashton McPherson was outstanding in just his third senior game.

 Alex Marklew was best on ground with 6 goals for Rovers with Tom Baulch booting four. Young guns Toby Murray and Alex McCarthy stood out for the visitors.

 Wangaratta overcame a tenacious North Albury to chalk up its first win of the season at Norm Minns Oval, winning by 77 points.

 North Albury led early in the third quarter before the Magpies found its top gear led brilliantly by a ten-goal performance from Michael Newton.

Wangaratta kicked thirteen of the last fourteen goals with Daniel Sharrock, Cal Moore and Xavier Laverty running riot.

 The Hoppers lacked height in defence but lost no admirers with its brilliant first half led by Josh Minogue three goals, Jack Reynolds and coach Tim Broomhead.

 The second-half fade-out continues to hurt the Hoppers – if they can address this, they will give themselves a big chance of beating the Raiders at home this Saturday.

 Wangaratta will get a genuine test of where its season sits with a trip to the Albury Sportsground this week – a venue that has not been kind to them in recent times.

 An extremely inaccurate Yarrawonga had an expected comfortable win over Wodonga Raiders winning by 83 points at Birralee Park.

 It could have and should have been a lot more with 44 scoring shots converted to just 17 goals. They booted 2-9 in the first term and then   2-8 in the second.

 Leigh Williams kicked five straight behinds before booting the first of his six goals, he finished with seven behinds. Tim Lawrence was also off-target with four behinds.

 The Pigeons’ midfield trio of Mark Whiley, Willie Wheeler and Ryan Bruce made the most of a dominant Lachie Howe ruck performance.

 Raiders’ effort after a four-day break was outstanding with Ned Conway, Connor Taylor, and Alex Daly superb. 16-year old Indhi Kotzur was excellent on debut for the Raiders.

 It was as expected a fairly one-sided set of matches in netball to complete round four. Across all four games, the average winning margin was almost 22 goals.

 The big improvers for 2023 Myrtleford continued its great form hammering Wangaratta Rovers by 32 goals to remain unbeaten and in second place on the ladder.

 Sophie Hanrahan and Saige Broz starred for the Saints while for the Rovers Rebecca Kreltszheim and Molly Murray were best.

 Raiders stunned the Pigeons in a superb first quarter to lead by four goals, before Yarrawonga turned up the heat with brilliant second and third terms to set up the 63-49 victory.

 The Pigeons remain unbeaten after four games. They were best served by Hannah Symes, while for Raiders it was Blaynee House and Maggie St John who stood out.

 Wangaratta stamped its authority on the game with a 19-9 lead at quarter time with Georgia Clark, Kellie Keen and Katie Dean in great form.

 North Albury were competitive after that but could not recover after the poor start. Sophie Kohlhagen and Isabella Clancy were good for North Albury.