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Best: Jagger Doody, Billy Hunter, Oliver Oberin, George Smith, Blair Anthony Livingston-Laing, Tyler Mullavey.
Under 14s
Corowa 6.2.38 def by Albury 9.5.59
Best: Levi Arnold, Eli Bonnitcha, Beningston Ocep, Joshua Parker, Nate Jones, Jake Witherden.
Under 16s
Corowa 7.3.45 def by Albury 15.9.99
Best: Emmett Northey, Jack Ford, Benji Hanrahan, Austin Ross-Anderson, jordan allan, William Gannon.
The last home and away game of the season saw the top-of-the-table Albury Tigers travel to John Foord Oval to take on the Roos in perfect football conditions.
The first-round meeting between the two finals-bound teams was a ripping contest. The Tigers finally prevailed by 12 points, but not before being pushed to their limits by an ever-improving young Roo outfit.
There were a couple of early hiccups for the Roos with the withdrawal of captain Will Massy and forward Hudson Bilney due to illness on the morning of the match, but this was tempered by the late inclusion of the reliable Harry Norman.
The match started at a frenetic pace, with the Albury Tigers dominating the clearances and the Roos backline under siege from repeat entries into the Tigers forward half. Will Forrest, Cooper Patten, Josh Hunter and Harry Webb did a fantastic job weathering the early onslaught and played a huge role in limiting Albury’s scoring opportunities.
The quarter time scoreline saw the Tigers leading 2.1-13 to the Roos 0.0-0.
Coaches Parker and Patten were happy with the boy’s effort and encouraged them to keep working hard and momentum would shift our way.
A quarter time move of Levi Arnold onto the dangerous Will Packer was a masterstroke and some tactical adjustments saw our midfielders gain the ascendency in the second term.
The ever-improving Ben Ocep was battling a much taller opponent and battled manfully at stoppages and then worked his bigger opponent into the ground with his superior aerobic ability.
Josh Parker and Hudson Kuschert worked their way into the contest, and suddenly, the Roos could feel the momentum shifting in their favour.
Eli Bonitcha was working up the ground and providing a great target for Ollie Mathews and Jake Witherden when moving the ball into attack.
Half-time scores saw the Tigers 4.2-26 lead the Roos 2.1-13.
The Roos continued their momentum into the third quarter. Levi Arnold had a huge impact on the contest, and our forwards, Leo Davis and Darcy Upton, were reaping the benefits of Levi’s bullocking work.
Nate Jones was starting to dominate around the ground and Lachie Douglas was like “a cork in the ocean” bobbing up all over the forward half.
Jaxx Johnson was finding the footy, while Archie House and Harry Norman were solid in defence and instrumental in drying up Albury’s scoring opportunities.
The Roos outscored the Tigers in this stanza, and the three-quarter-time scores were the Tigers 5.3-33 to the Roos 4.1-25.
Regaining control of the match took a toll on the young Roos, and Albury was able to kick a couple of quick goals early in the last quarter to regain the ascendency.
True to the Roos grit, they kept working hard, with Abe Spencer and Will Forrest setting up more scoring opportunities before the siren sounded, with the final score reading Tigers 9.5-59 to the Roos 6.2-38.
What a great game of junior footy and a fantastic effort from our Under 14 Roo boys in the absence of a couple of key players.
The Roos certainly know they can compete with all the other teams in the competition, and I am sure the Tigers will be nervous to face a full-strength Roos outfit in the finals.
Coaches Parker and Patten and the players have already turned their attention to our first final this week against St Pats at John Foord Oval.
We have had three ripping contests against St Pats this season and this weekend is sure to be another cracker. Let’s get down to John Foord Oval at 11am this Sunday and cheer the boys on. Go Roos!
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