Leigh Williams was pivotal to the Pigeons 25-point win, kicking 8 goals in his first game back after injury.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
Yarrawonga 2.3, 9.4, 9.7, 14.14.98.
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Corowa Rutherglen 4.1, 8.2, 10.5, 11.7.73.
Goals: Yarrawonga: Leigh Williams 8, Ryan Bruce 1, Ryan Einsporn 1, Bailey Frauenfelder 1, Michael Gibbons 1, Jess Koopman 1, Tim Lawrence 1.
Corowa Rutherglen: Kaelan Bradtke 3, Cameron Wilson 3, Cameron Barrett 1, Hayden Filliponi 1, Jason Marks 1, Darcy Melksham 1, George Sandral 1.
Best: Yarrawonga: Leigh Williams, Leigh Masters, Ryan Bruce, Harrison Wheeler, Kyal Tyson, Michael Gibbons.
Corowa Rutherglen: Cameron Barrett, Cameron Wilson, Jake Wood, Callum Spencer, George Sandral, Daniel Saunders.
Class was the defining factor as the Yarrawonga Pigeons overcame a gallant Corowa Rutherglen on a glorious winter's afternoon at the JC Lowe Oval.
The challenge of Corowa Rutherglen was always going to be a test of character and depth as the Pigeons headed into the clash missing three of their prime movers in coach Mark Whiley, Willie Wheeler and Lach Howe.
However superstar Leigh Williams made his return after missing five weeks due to injury and was enormous for the Pigeons. Williams booted eight majors, six of which came in the second quarter alone in a best on ground display.
With a victory near on sealing a top two position on the ladder, Michael Gibbons ensured the Pigeons began on the right note, sharking a clean ball from the stoppage and snapping through the first goal of the day on his left boot.
Jess Koopman then sliced through the Roo’s defence only moments later and popped through a second in a scintillating start for the home side.
However it was Corowa Rutherglen who were able to get right on top after the Pigeons fast start. Big names for the Roos in Wilson and Bradtke booted through two goals each in the quarter and gave the Roos a 10-point lead at quarter time.
The second quarter was filled with action galore as the Pigeons began to get stuck right into their work with a 7 goal to 4 quarter.
Gibbons kick-started his team yet again, reading it best off the pack and running into an open goal to kick his second for the day. The Roo’s however, hit back strongly again with the following two goals, stretching their margin out to 16-points.
The Pigeons were looking for a spark and it came from the ultra-impressive Kyal Tyson who laid a bone crunching tackle on his opposing number Tom Goodwin to ignite the Pigeons and see them click into gear. From Tyson’s tackle onwards, it was the Leigh Williams show. The key forward star proceeded to kick six astonishing goals in just 20 minutes of football. The incredible display of forward craft was single-handedly keeping his team in the contest and his efforts gave the Pigeons a narrow 8-point lead at the main break.
The third quarter well and truly belonged to Corowa Rutherglen as the Roo’s were able to boot through two goals of their own whilst keeping the Pigeons goalless.
Although being constantly challenged with numerous inside fifty entries, the Pigeons defence of Beau Seymour and Jye Cross held together strongly in a bid to repel the Roo’s attacks.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
Ryan Bruce and Jack Sexton also lifted their efforts and were seen pushing back to save a number of scoring opportunities.
However it was Captain Leigh Masters who was able to steady the ship and hold it all together for the Pigeons. Masters was instrumental in the quarter with 11 disposals that included multiple intercept marks across half back.
With Corowa-Rutherglen holding a 4 point lead at the last change, the Pigeons needed a lift from a number of players who had been held quiet for a large part of the afternoon.
A man who was at the other end of the spectrum of being quiet was Leigh Williams.
Williams immediately marked strongly from a Gibbons clearance to then convert truly within 50 seconds of the final term to give the Pigeons back the lead.
A quick reply from the Roos’ Bradtke at the six-minute mark saw the lead change yet again. With clearances out of the middle proving pivotal as the game progressed, Kyal Tyson yet again stepped up in the ruck for the Pigeons. Tyson’s ability to follow up his tap work at ground level played a significant role in the final quarter as the Pigeons were able to surge clear of the Roos.
Tim Lawrence put himself in a dangerous position inside fifty and slotted through a major from directly in front after being awarded a free kick for a push in the back.
With 18 minutes elapsing in the final quarter, Williams yet again presented strongly to mark and then convert from 45 meters out to bag his eighth for the day. The relentless Pigeon forward line pressure caused a loose ball spillage with Ryan Bruce capitalizing to snap a beauty deep in the pocket to extend the margin to 17 points with 20 minutes ticked over on the timeclock.
Harry Wheeler then unselfishly offloaded to Bailey Frauenfelder who launched the final blow from 50 meters on the run to ice the game for the Pigeons.
Yarrawonga running out the game and over the top of Corowa-Rutherglen to secure a 25-point victory.
Jack Sexton rushes a kick away before being spoilt by a number of Roos.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
Coach Mark Whiley was pleased with some great individual efforts across the day however admitted there is still plenty to work on as a collective group heading into the upcoming bye. With the Pigeons still missing 8-10 players from the weekends starting line ups such as Whiley, W.Wheeler, Howe, Symes, Brooks, Pendergast, R Bonat, D O’Dwyer, spots will begin to heat up across both grades as they march towards the 2022 finals series.
Yarrawonga face North Albury after their bye followed by Albury Tigers and will close out the home and away season with a huge clash against the Wangaratta Magpies.
Disposals: L Masters 35, N Fothergill 28, J Sexton 28, M Gibbons 25.
The Reserves have powered away to win by 146-points against Corowa Rutherglen at the JC Lowe Oval on Saturday.
Heading into the game with arguably their strongest line up for the season, the Pigeons wanted to ensure they continued to play their own style of football given the result was inevitable.
It was a first quarter blitz as the home side piled on 9 goals to Corowa Rutherglen’s 1.
The strong Pigeon midfield that included Leslie, Urquhart and Griffiths were dominating the clearances and providing the forwards with clean looks at goals.
Small forwards Jacob Adkins and Max Hemphill had a field day inside fifty. The crafty duo both set up as many goals as they kicked and both featured strongly in the Pigeons best players for the day.
Tyler Lovell and Ross Mulquiney continue to give the opposition headaches up forward as both are providing strong targets for the Pigeons in front of the ball. Mulquiney is having yet another strong season, booting 28 goals so far this season as a permanent stay at home forward.
The Pigeons still remain a slight hope of finishing on top of the ladder in season 2022 however have already secured the double chance.
Goals: Max Hemphill, Jacob Adkins 6, Ross Mulquiney 4, Xavier Leslie, Tyler Lovell 2, Reid Clarke, Craig Frauenfelder, Judd Hooper, Ben Radford, Jordan Urquhart 1.
Best: Max Hemphill, Xavier Leslie, Kayden Sharp, Reid Clarke, Jacob Adkins, Douglas Arnold.
Thirds
Yarrawonga 5.11.41 defeated by Corowa-Rutherglen 6.7.43.
The Pigeons Third 18 have come agonizingly close to keeping their season alive with a narrow 2-point defeat at the hands of Corowa-Rutherglen.
In a must win game to be any chance for finals, the Pigeons let the game slip with a slow start to the game forcing them to play a game of catch up for the entire day.
Trailing by 20-points at the main break, the Pigeon boys rallied in an inspiring third quarter. Although taking the lead at the final change, the Pigeons will rue missed opportunities in front of the big sticks which could have seen the slender 4-point lead even bigger.
In a gripping last quarter, the Roos were the ones that managed to find the big sticks and take the lead. Again, the Pigeons had their opportunities to win the game however it wasn’t to be.
Harry Nagle produced an outstanding game for the home side whilst Jyda House continued his impressive goal-kicking form.
Coach Hornet Frauenfelder said “We’re now going to concentrate on taking a big scalp and potentially shape the ladder in the back end of the season.”
Goals: Jyda House 4, Hunter Frauenfelder 1.
Best: Harry Nagle, Griffin Surrey, Hunter Frauenfelder, Hudson Gillies, Oscar Elliott, Noah Iddles.
The YFNC Gate Raffle Ticket number is 2598. The club is still looking for a winner, contact Ray on 0407300793.
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