With his children in his arms and wife Sally by his side, Sean Horsburgh embarked on game 300, running through a guard of honour and then a huge banner befitting such a milestone.
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Then the fairytale got better as three minutes into the match Horsburgh kicked the first goal — something he has done on many occasions — and then fittingly as the final siren sounded with a 110 point win over Undera the ball was in his hands again and the fairytale was complete.
From start to finish it was Horsburgh's day; easily in the Towners’ best, the now 300 gamer was loaded on to the shoulders of great mates Tim Ross and Ryan Jennings to travel back through a guard of honour including every senior player from Undera to an emotional welcome from his family and supporters and into the rooms.
With Josh Mellington kicking 14 goals and handing off a few, the Towners were too good against the injury-plagued Lions; leading at quarter-time by 36 points, they extended that margin at every change.
Lachie Baldwin collected 43 possessions in a best-on-ground performance, just ahead of Nick Brazil (35 and a goal) and the general Ben Cosgriff.
Cosgriff led a superb backline; Nathan Abley has slipped into the back pocket like a veteran, the skipper Ryan Jennings was brilliant, and Tom Cosgriff just did what he does best.
Pete McKay on a wing, and the milestone man Horsburgh on the other, were either mopping up in the backline or creating movement up forward.
Tim Ross and Michael Georgiadis across half forward were also not just creative but hard at the ball, creating enough ball movement to allow Mellington plenty of opportunities.
It did help that five senior players came into the side from last week; injuries have cursed the Towners this year but getting closer over the next month to full strength gives their supporters some belief that a few more wins are on the way.
This week against premiership fancy Dookie on its turf will be tough, but it's a match everyone is looking forward to.
Two things that must be mentioned from this week's match: Sean Hosburgh is a star on and off the field; and, Undera has a special bunch of blokes to give Sean a guard of honour after being defeated. Top class stuff. Undera, take a bow.
Violet Town: 23.10 (148)
Undera: 5.8 (38)
Best: L. Baldwin, B. Cosgriff, J. Mellington, N. Brazil, S. Horsburgh, P. McKay.
Goals: J. Mellington 14, S. Horsbugh 2, N. Brazil, T. Ross, F. Brazil, R. Dowell, Z. Berthun, M. Georgiadis, M. NcCarty 1 each.
2nd XVIII
A comprehensive 95-point win put a smile on coach Kozole’s face, and with 11 goalkickers it was the best team performance of the year.
Stewart, Dowell and Clohesy were at their absolute best leading from the front.
The crowd erupted when the veteran Kozole kicked truly, his boys getting around him.
Matt Davies continues to impress as does Stuart Dean who bleeds the Towners’ colours.
It will be a big test this week against Dookie; could be worth the entrance fee Saturday just to watch this contest.
SCORES:
Violet Town: 16.19 (115)
Undera: 3.2 (20)
Best: J. Stewart, R. Dowell, J. Clohesy, A. Nikolovski, M. Davies, J. Domoter.
Goals: L. Unger, J. Fox, R. Downie, A. Nickolovski, J. Clohesy 2 each, E. Kozole, B. Fulton, K. Dunn, J. Davies, R. Sutherland, J. Domoter 1 each.
U15:
In much colder conditions than last week the Violet Town team wanted to make up for last week’s result — and that they did, starting well against an Undera side looking for a win also.
With great teamwork down the court, the ball was easily finding the shooters who are shooting beautifully. It was a strong start by all on court defensively and in attack.
In the second quarter Violet Town found it a bit harder to bring the ball down court with Undera’s defence picking up. The shooters were still shooting beautiful when they got the ball in the circle.
In the third quarter Violet Town upped its defensive pressure, coming up with many intercepts and jumping on any lose balls. It was able to convert these opportunities into goals, putting scoreboard pressure back on Undera.
In the last quarter the girls were getting tired and started to make some bad passes, turning over the ball as it went up and the down the court in a very defensive final term.
In all, it was a fantastic team effort by the whole Violet Town team.
Final scores: Violet Town 32 defeated Undera 16. Best on court: Macey Ross. Most determined: Alexis Kloot.
A-grade
Violet Town was out for a much-needed win this week and started the game off much better than the previous week. The shooters were working well together to create space and make it easy for the midcourt to feed the ball in to them.
Defensively Violet Town came up with many intercepts and made it hard for Undera to get the ball into their goal circle.
The second quarter was much more defensive by both sides, seeing the ball go up and down the court many times, with neither side able to convert goals as freely.
In the third quarter Violet Town's defence continued to put pressure on Undera all the way down the court. They were finding space and feeding the ball into the shooters well, with the shooters shooting beautifully.
The final quarter saw some slight positional changes but that didn’t effect the Violet Town team at all. Violet Town finished off the game the way it started, dominating in defence and finding each other in attack with ease, in a great and much needed win.
Final scores Violet Town 49 defeated Undera 21. Best on court: Jo Wild; second-best: Abbie Ellis.
B-grade
Violet Town started off the game well in attack but needed to lift its defensive pressure in defence as Undera was finding their shooters who were not missing too easily.
In the second quarter the Violet Town girls lifted their defence and started to get some deflections. They were finding their shooters and working well in attack to find each other.
The third quarter saw more of the same, with increased defensive pressure and deflections turning into intercepts and converting into goals. It was a much stronger quarter by the Violet Town girls, levelling the quarter and putting some pressure back on Undera.
In the last quarter some positional changes were made and Undera lifted, putting the pressure on the Violet Town girls the way down the court and making it hard for them to find their shooters.
In the end, it was a much tighter match than what the scoreboard shows.
Final scores: Violet Town 30 defeated by Undera 60. Best on court: Tilly Ellis; second-best: Kellie McGill.
C-grade
It was always going to be a tough game for the Violet Town team, up against a top-two side in Undera.
The Violet Town girls got off to a slow start in the first quarter in trying conditions, getting into the game and finding their feet as the quarter went on. In the second quarter the girls put much more pressure on the Undera side and started to work well as a team on court, finding the shooters and feeding the ball into them much better.
Although the scoreboard was not going Violet Town’s way, the girls never dropped their heads and continued to work hard in defence.
Undera in the third quarter lifted its defensive pressure also, making it hard for Violet Town to get it into the goal circle.
Violet Town finished off the game very strong in the last quarter, having its best quarter for the match. The girls worked hard to create space for each other which helped them find their shooters, who shot well. Defensively they were coming up with some intercepts and making it hard for Undera to score. A super effort against a much stronger side.
Final scores: Violet Town 16 defeated by Undera 54. Best on court: Ellie Triffitt; second-best: Tash Reid.
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