The Wheeler brothers, Harry and Willie have finally been able to pull on the blue and white hoops together, both contributing to the teams 62 point win.
Wodonga Raiders 2.0, 3.2, 4.4, 5.5.35.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Yarrawonga 1.5, 3.7, 8.9, 14.13.97.
GOALS: Wodonga Raiders: C Smith 1, M Beattie 1, N Clarke 1, W Farrer 1, M Whitehead 1.
Yarrawonga: B Coburn 3, M Whiley 2, R Bruce 2, T Lawrence 2, N Fothergill 1, L Masters 1, T Lovell 1, W Wheeler 1, J Forge 1.
BEST: Wodonga Raiders: J Hodgkin, J Burke, I Muller, B St John, M Beattie, W Farrer.
Yarrawonga: N Fothergill, R Bruce, M Whiley, H Wheeler, L Morey, R Einsporn.
The Yarrawonga Pigeons have run away convincing round one winners against the Wodonga Raiders after a scrappy first half at Birralee Park.
With five fresh faces pulling on the blue and white hoops for the first time in Willie Wheeler, Nick Fothergill, Jye Cross, Jordan O’Dwyer and Ryan Einsporn, there was a sense of anticipation for the new look Pigeon outfit.
Tricky twilight conditions greeted both teams early as the Pigeons were unable to capitalise on early inside 50 entries with wayward kicking for goal.
The early murmurs in the crowd were that of excitement as recruit Nick Fothergill impressed the Pigeons faithful with his class around the ground.
Coach Mark Whiley and Captain Leigh Masters stood tall early in critical moments against an exuberant Marc Almond coached Raiders. After plenty of football played between the arcs from both sides, the half time siren couldn’t come at a better time for the Pigeons as they held a slender lead of 5 points.
The main message at the half time interval from the coaching group was for the Pigeons to take more time with their disposal and to stay composed heading inside 50.
The crowd got their money’s worth in the second half as the Pigeons produced inspiring football.
Total domination on all 3 lines on the field but especially in the stoppages, getting first use of the footy through the likes of Harry and Willie Wheeler, Nick Fothergill and Connor Griffiths who were complemented with the run of Ryan Bruce and Ryan Einsporn.
A pleasing aspect for the Pigeons was that they were able to find a variety of different goal kickers including Brayden Coburn, Tim Lawrence, Tyler Lovell and Jack Forge who all bobbed up at different stages in important moments.
Former Best and Fairest winner Logan Morey played a brilliant defensive role for the side, taking Raider Willie Farrer out of the game.
Kayden Sharp also impressed the coaches with his defensive craft and is becoming an important cog in the Pigeon senior line-up.
Like the reserves, the Pigeons piled on 11 second half goals to post their first victory of the season.
Pigeon debutants Jordan O’Dwyer, Nick Fothergill, Ryan Einsporn, Willie Wheeler and Jye Cross in the rooms after their first win for the Pigeons.
Reserves
Wodonga Raiders 1.1.7 defeated by Yarrawonga 25.14.164.
The 2022 season for the Pigeons reserves side has begun in fine style with a 157-point win over the Wodonga Raiders in the 3pm time slot at Birralee Park.
In recent seasons, Coach Matt Grinter has implemented a successful game style that has been proven to stack up in the reserves grade and this year he will be hoping for the same buy in with a strong squad at his disposal.
The opening term was all systems go for the Pigeons, winning the ball out of the centre at will through the likes of Pigeon champions Xavier Leslie and Scott Oswald, returning favourite Doug Arnold, young star Max Hemphill and smooth moving Hayden Cartwright who were all dominant throughout the course of the day.
The midfielders were largely assisted by the trio of big men in David O’Dwyer, Matt Holgate and Ben Radford who were all great contributors for the day.
8 goals to 1 in first term signalled early dominance as forwards in Matt McCabe, Jacob Adkins and Zech Cuppens reaped the rewards and provided big headaches for the Raiders defence.
Contested bull Ned Pendergast found his own football all day and is one to keep an eye on throughout the season.
82 points was the lead at half time however the message was still defend first from coaches Grinter and returning club legend Nick Dykes who were both impressed in the team first attitude of Skipper Cory Pearn and the brothers in Judd and Mack Hooper.
Ross Mulquiney yet again didn’t fail to rack up possessions along with young gun Hunter Surrey who after playing thirds, showed impressive work rate all day.
In further good news for the Pigeons, the dynamic Jess Koopman returned after a long layoff through injury and was able to get through the game unscathed.
The Pigeons adhered to the coach’s message, not conceding any score after half time and piling on 11 goals of their own in the second half to run away huge winners.
Best: Xavier Leslie, Douglas Arnold, Ned Pendergast, Reid Clarke, Zechariah Cuppens, Matthew Holgate
Goals: Ned Pendergast 5, Zec Cuppens 4, Xav Leslie 3, Matt McCabe 3, Ross Mulquiney 2, Max Hemphill 2, Jacob Adkins 2, Craig Frauenfelder 2, Hunter Surrey 1.
The young Pigeons have gone down by a narrow 16 points in their season opener against the Wodonga Raiders.
Welcomed into the club were 6 Pigeon debutants Noah Iddles (Strathmerton), Tom Oliver (Yarroweyah), Addison Psaltiris, Dan Psaltiris and Connor Phibbs (Mulwala).
Inaccurate goal kicking may have proved the difference in the tight and tough contest at Birralee Park.
The Pigeons showed a good ability to transition the ball into the forward line throughout the day however had difficulty converting that hard work into goals. Leading the charge for the Pigeons was Harry Nagle who impressed all of those who were watching.
Captain Sam Hemphill showed outstanding leadership all day with his ability to win his own football and organise the troops.
Sam has showed great character over the last couple of seasons, featuring strongly in the reserves grade in 2021.
Hunter Surrey showed his ability to hit the scoreboard booting 3 majors whilst new recruits gave plenty of drive in Iddles and Oliver.
The consistent Oscar Elliot has also shown plenty in his short stint in the blue and white. Coach Frauenfelder was particularly impressed with Brendan Ryan who played his best game for the club chasing and tackling anything in his way.
The defeat has given the Under 18s plenty to work on heading forward into the big Easter clash against Lavington.
Best: Harry Nagle, Sam Hemphill, Tom Oliver, Hunter Surrey, Brendan Ryan, Oscar Elliott.
Goals: Hunter Surrey 3, Connor Phibbs 1, Jyda House 1.
9°C