By David Ball
Yarra Glen travelled to Yarra Junction with play starting in warm, sunny conditions and the ground in great condition. In senior football the River Pigs started well kicking the first goal.
Yarra Junction, however started winning the ball and used a kicking possession game to keep Yarra Glen to just the one goal at quarter time, whist adding three of their own to take a 13 point lead into quarter time. In the second quarter, Yarra Glen increased their tackling pressure and with Caleb Surplice intercepting many of Junction’s forward moves they were able to give their forwards many opportunities.
Up forward Nick McKenzie was marking everything.
The River Pigs added 4.6 to the Eagles 1.2.
The combination of poor kicking and the Eagles pressure kept the scores close, with Yarra Glen going into the main break just 11 points ahead.
The third quarter saw the standard of footy really improve as both sides lifted their intensity and improve their delivery into their respective forwards.
For the first half of the quarter it was goal for goal, every time Yarra Glen added a goal to stretch their lead, Junction would answer.
Late in the quarter as the Eagles lifted, the River Pigs gave away three free kicks that were converted.
With Yarra Glen losing their composure in defence the Eagles took back the initiative to be four points up at the last break.
In a desperate last quarter with both sides feeling the heat, Yarra Glen took control and their defence held Junction goal less with just four rushed behinds being added to their score.
At the other end some quality goal kicking from Josh Hawkins and a great shot from the boundary by Heath Chamberlain saw the River Pigs run out 11 point winners, 11.12 to 9.13.
Best players were Nick McKenzie, Caleb Surplice, Noah Battle, Sam Wood and Tom Sullivan.
Goalkickers were Josh Hawkins three, Nick McKenzie three, Heath Chamberlain two and one each to Sam Wood, Nate Capuano and Kobey Jarvis.
The Yarra Glen Reserves game started as a fierce contest.
It took 14 minutes before a goal was scored by Junction, who then added another before quarter time to be 13 points up.
The second quarter was a very even contest with both teams adding two goals.
Seth McDonnell in his first game for the club was giving the forwards opportunities, with another first gamer, Matt McKenzie providing a strong marking target up forward.
After half time as the Yarra Glen boys tired Junction took control and kicked eight goals to Yarra Glen’s 3. Ash Bryans battled hard in the midfield and Max Murphy and Ethan Murdock were great in defence.
There was no lack of effort from the River Pigs and they remained competitive until the final siren, before going down 5.3 to Yarra Junction’s 12.6.
Best Players were Seth McDonnell, Ethan Murdock, Ash Bryans, Max Murphy and Matt McKenzie.
Goalkickers were Sean Sanderson two, Matt McKenzie, Ash Bryans and Dan Kelly one each.
Netball started with D grade.
We headed to Yarra Junction for our round three clash and what a performance the Yarra Glen D grade girls put on!
The flow down court and a hard working defence saw us keep the home team to a scoreless first quarter.
The Yarra Glen girls were patient and decisive in attack.
The defence combination of Sarah Mathews, Annie Dietrich and Molly Keyhoe proved to be too strong from the first whistle, keeping Yarra Junction to 13 goals for the game.
Best on court goes to Annie Dietrich who is getting better with each game. It was an impressive effort from the Yarra Glen shooters, scoring 33 goals for the game.
The 20 goal win sees D grade start with 2 from two wins to start the season.
C Grade also played Yarra Junction away in a contest that Yarra Glen controlled from the first whistle.
The Yarra Glen girls took on the game and were relentless in attack, showing their versatility and exceptional skill.
Defensively they worked as a unit to create multiple turnovers which we were able to score off and kept them to under three goals across all four quarters.
The team also gained a wealth of experience as Michelle Young made her return to court and she was instrumental in the impressive win.
Special mention to Yarra Glen captain Sarah Orlandi and Riley Shanks in their attacking performances.
In A grade, the team saw another decisive and clinical performance from Yarra Glen, a well- oiled A grade machine!
Yarra Junction were no match as the Yarra girls dominated each quarter, eventually running out winners 56-33.
Katelyn Vanderkolk put on an even more dominating performance in GK than her last game (as well as a quarter in GS), while Maddy Hargrave and captain Lara Wandin-Collins seem telepathically linked in goals to form a very dominant combination! The stand out player for the game was Gemma Ryan whose consistent defensive turnovers were efficiently turned into goals all game.
Yarra Glen’s B grade team, despite winning three quarters of this rough game against Yarra Junction, just couldn’t get the job done, being overrun in last to go down 37-33 in a frustrating encounter.
There were positives a plenty however, with the valiant efforts of Ellie Estcourt in defence, the never say die attitude of Tiah Large and the running all day of Chelsea Birchall keeping us in it to the last minute.
Kayla Collins earned a best on court for her versatility and fierce competitiveness in setting a standard for the team.
Next week Yarra Glen will play at home against Yea
