rEMEMBER WHEN? PRELIMINARY FINALS
There is something about a preliminary final – it rarely disappoints and this week in Remember When we go back 13 years to the 2011 prelim final where spectators were left stunned as Yarrawonga pulled off one of the great comebacks in OMFL history at Birallee Park against Lavington.
Two weeks previous Yarrawonga had comfortably beaten the Panthers in the Qualifying final before the Pigeons fell to Albury in the 2 nd semi, while Lavington rolled Raiders to get another opportunity at the Pigeons.
A strong breeze to the southern end had Yarrawonga kick 4gls to 1 in the opening term and then Lavington did the same in the second to trail by one point at halftime. Yarrawonga with the breeze still at their backs squandered opportunity in the third term kicking 2-6, while Lavington played brilliant running football to kick 5-1 and take a 12 point lead into the final term.
Yarrawonga courtesy of Marcus McMillan gave the Pigeons some hope at the start of the last quarter with a goal into the howling breeze. Two goals to the Panthers and a few missed chances had them lead by 21 points 17 minutes into the term.
Then the wind stopped, the Panthers stopped, and the Pigeons clicked into gear in a stunning ten minutes as first Tim Cooper found space inside fifty to goal, then Joel Smith and Craig Ednie goaled in successive minutes, it was Ednie again minutes later setting up Michael Stevens for a running goal and the lead with five minutes remaining.
A centre square infringement, a fortuitous out on the full and then a fifty-metre penalty allowed McMillan to kick his 4th and a 9 point lead before Sargeant got one back to give the Panthers hope. The Pigeons defence repelled several attacks to claim a stunning 13-14-92 to 13-11-89 victory.
Meanwhile, Wodonga defied the odds to qualify for the OM netball grand final with a 44-41 win over North Albury. The Bulldogs were on the brink of missing finals a month previous before beating Wangaratta Rovers, Myrtleford and North Albury in consecutive weeks. Rebecca Cameron (29) gls and Liona Edwards starred for Wodonga against the young Hoppers who were best served by Jess Fisher-Curnow and Breda O’Kane.
The following week Wodonga’s brave finals run came to an end at the hands of Yarrawonga losing 46-41 to give the Pigeons its third straight premiership. It was a similar scenario in the football when Albury beat Yarrawonga for the third straight year 15-13-103 to 14-10-94 at the Lavington
Sportsground.
