Wangaratta 0.2 2.3 4.3 6.3 39
GOALS: Yarrawonga: Brad O’Connor 4, Kyle Archibald 2, Timothy Lawrence 2, Owen Conway 2, Darcy Norman 1. Wangaratta: Sebastian De Napoli 2, Daniel Sharrock 1, Mitchell Holt 1, Ben Bray 1, Frazer Dent 1.
BEST: Yarrawonga: Marcus Hargreaves, Joshua Tonna, Ross Mulquiney, Matthew Grinter, Jordan Urquhart, Travis Hargreaves. Wangaratta: Harry Allan, Ben Bray, Frazer Dent, Lachlan Hourigan, Fletcher Ramage, Braeden Brendel.
The reserves team will hope to claim back to back premierships and repeat last year’s performance that saw them launch out of the blocks with a 6 goal to nothing first quarter against the Wodonga Raiders eventually finishing with a dominant 68-point win.
In previous matches against the undefeated Albury Tigers this season the Pigeons were only beaten by 4 points in round 9 and then 46 points in round 16.
Last weekend the reserves travelled to Wodonga to take on the Wangaratta Magpies in the preliminary final and showed why they can serve it up to Albury this Sunday.
In damp conditions the boys were up and about early with Owen Conway’s run-down tackle and subsequent goal getting them on the board.
Brad O’Connor posted his first shortly after and this was followed by Tim Lawrence and Darcy Norman to give the Pigeons a 25-point lead at the first break.
The Magpies hit back in the second with the first two goals but Yarrawonga steadied with late goals to Lawrence and O’Connor to keep their lead.
Yarrawonga’s backline was performing well. Cam Byrne, Josh Tonna, Davey Jones and Isaac McMillan all worked together to repel multiple Magpie attacks.
The third quarter played out similarly with Brad O’Connor showing his experience to kick the Pigeons only two goals for the quarter.
Yarrawonga’s midfield was dominant. Matt Grinter, Marcus and Travis Hargreaves were all busy around stoppages.
Ross Mulquiney and Jordan Urquhart worked well to continually drive the ball forward at every opportunity.
In the last it was another experienced Pigeon leading the way. Kyle Archibald lead from the front and put the game out of the Magpies reach with two solid goals.
A late goal to Owen Conway sealed the deal with the Pigeons going into next week’s grand final on the back of a 34-point win.
10°C