This weekend was the annual Benalla Junior Football Family Fun Day.
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With five games in one location spread across our two ovals, this was a day for the whole community to come together and celebrate our club. The generosity of our families went beyond all expectations with a delicious bake sale and numerous donations from businesses and families for our monster raffle.
Although we didn’t get a clean sweep of wins, the day was enjoyed by everyone in attendance.
A huge shout out to our major sponsor of the day, JCS Thoroughbreds and also to Complete Forklift Services for sponsoring our Player of the Match awards.
U12 Red
Round 12 saw the under-12 Reds take on the ladder leaders, Myrtleford, in a thrilling contest. Scores were locked at quarter time before the Reds produced a strong second quarter to take the lead into the main break.
Myrtleford fought back in the third term, reducing the margin to just three points at the final change. A tense, low-scoring last quarter followed, but the Reds held their nerve to record a fantastic two-point victory.
It was a tremendous team performance, with relentless pressure and a huge effort from every player helping secure the win.
Score: Benalla Red 4.6 (30) def Myrtleford 4.4 (28)
Goals: Bella Quarrell, Archer Pickering, Tory Woodhams, Tom Lambert
Player of the Match: Toby Smith
U12 Black
Under-12 Blacks hosted Bright at the Arundel Street Oval this week coming off two back-to-back byes.
With Max Reynolds kicking the first goal of the game, the under-12 Blacks controlled the game for the majority of the contest, keeping Bright scoreless for the first half.
Seth Lambden found plenty of the ball throughout the day with Bryce Haxby and Darcy Wallace leading the way in composure with the wet ball. Well done everyone on a very convincing win today for the last home game of the season.
Score: Benalla Blacks 11.7 (73) def Bright 3.2 (20)
Goals: Dustin Nolan, Caiden Vanderhorst 3, Bailey King 2, Maximus Reynolds, Spencer Whitechurch, Jack McKenzie
Player of the Match: Seth Lambden
U14 Red
The under-14 Reds faced a huge challenge on Sunday as the top of the table Myrtleford travelled to our home ground. The players were excited for the opportunity, and we genuinely believed we could push them all the way and challenge for the win.
Our key priorities were effort and relentless pressure. To achieve that, we needed 18 contributors on the ground at all times and coach Ben thought the team delivered on that.
The team produced some outstanding passages of play and actually controlled large parts of the game. It was disappointing that we couldn't convert more of our opportunities and apply greater scoreboard pressure. The final scoreline didn't truly reflect how close and competitive the contest was.
I'm proud of the resilience and fight the group showed today. Keep believing in the process, continue working hard for each other and we'll give ourselves every chance to finish the season strongly.
Score: Benalla Red 4.5 (29) def by Myrtleford 11.9 (75)
Goals: Jackson Quarrell 2, Memphis Train, Jack Hart
Player of the Match: Bentley Parker
U14 Black
A chilly morning greeted Benalla as they took on the highly fancied Bright outfit in a special day on the Benalla Football calendar.
After the last match blew out on the scoreboard, the coaches looked for signs of growth and improvement. Right from the outset Benalla seemed to bring a steely determination, matching Bright in the first quarter led by man mountain Angus Roscoe, who continued his stellar season.
Benalla battled again in the second term with a couple of costly fundamental errors separating the teams on the scoreboard. Bright broke the game open in the third quarter which ended up being the biggest scoring quarter of the match.
Benalla finished strong, eventually going down by a gallant 68 points in a competitive showing.
Tyson Brown led from the front all day, nullifying Bright’s best rebounding defender and finding plenty of football himself. Jimmy Jackson started well and maintained his good form with clean hands in difficult conditions. Jake Soyer battled hard alongside captain Brayden Jacobs, whose determination and selflessness has been greatly missed.
Matt White continues to improve aspects of his game and was rarely beaten, while Jordan Streader was a welcome return, hitting the scoreboard along with his fellow forward dynamo Jack Davies.
Score: Benalla Black 2.0 (12) def by Bright 11.14 (80)
Goals: Jack Davies, Jordan Streader
Player of the Match: Tyson Brown
U17
The Benalla under-17's put on a clinical display at home, asserting their dominance in the contest to secure a brilliant 21-point victory over a tough Mansfield outfit. Coming off the back of the interleague reset, the boys brought a finals standard of pressure right from the opening bounce.
The foundation of the win was built on an absolute gridlock in defence. Charlie Bell was an absolute rock down back, turning away countless Mansfield attacks with composure, brilliantly supported by the relentless work rate of Mason Willett. Around the ground, the engine room fired on all cylinders, spearheaded by Harry Skelton who led from the front with elite work-rate and presence around the football.
In a physical game, Trevor Maru was dynamic up forward, showcasing incredibly clean hands as if playing with a dry ball to slot two crucial goals. The team's fierce trademark pressure was perfectly summarized by Lachy Doody's ferocious tackling, while Tyson Williams provided the ultimate highlight of the day, clunking a massive contested mark before beautifully converting the goal.
It was a complete, hard-fought squad effort that sets a massive standard for the run home.
Score: Benalla 6.16 (52) def Mansfield 4.7 (31)
Goals: Trevor Maru 2, Josh Byers, Josh Montgomery, Tom Mount, Tyson Williams
Player of the Match: Charlie Bell