By David Ball and Alex Woods
Yarra Glen travelled to Warburton to take on the undefeated Burras in slippery conditions.
The home side started strongly, winning the ball in the midfield and moving the ball quickly to fast leading forwards.
They had 3 goals on the board before Yarra Glen had a forward entry.
Warburton was controlling play with a combination of short chips kicks and fast-forward moving handball chains to lead 5.1 to 2.0 at quarter time.
The second quarter was dominated by the River Pigs, they lifted their intensity forcing the Burras to turn the ball over.
Yarra Glen kicked to first 3 goals for the quarter, getting within 2 points before a late steadying goal for the Burras had them 8 points up at the main break.
As the rain came in the third quarter Warburton was on fire, blasting 5.5 to Yarra Glen’s 2 points. Stung into action after being outplayed in the second, the Burras’ tackling pressure lifted as they ran and spread to take advantage of the many turnovers.
Yarra Glen was forced into rushed kicks when going forward. With the Burra defence set up well they were in place to rebound these errant kicks.
At 5.4 to 11.9 at three-quarter time, Warby looked poised for a big win.
To Yarra Glen’s credit, they fought hard in the last and as in the second, they outplayed their more fancied rivals before going down, Yarra Glen 7.7 to Warburton Millgrove 12.12.
The best players for Yarra Glen were Ryan Smith, Sam Wood, Tom Sullivan, Jayden Schille, Nick McKenzie, Richard Gurney and Marcus Kikidopolous with 2 goals.
Other River Pigs goalkickers were Nick McKenzie, Sam Wood, Anthony Harmon, Matt McCann and Ryan Smith.
For Warburton-Millgrove there was 3 goals from Bailey Humphrey, 2 from Trent Elliott and Liam Westlake and 1 each for Nelson Aldridge, Tom Barr, Lachlan Marr, Blake Muir and Josh Sharp.
Ben Pretty, Dylan Walker, Tom Barr, Josh Sharp, Brayden Woolridge and Trent Elliott were all top performers for the match.
The Yarra Glen Reserves were also taking on an undefeated Warburton Millgrove outfit and they soon showed why they sit on top of the ladder.
With a large number of players unavailable, Yarra Glen did well to get a full team on the park.
The River Pigs tried hard, with Dayne Downward a standout in defence and Dan Galbraith marking and kicking a nice long goal battling against a quicker and more skilled opposition.
At quarter time Warby led 5.4 to 1.0.
This domination continued in the second and by halftime the Burras were up, 13.8 to 1.1.
Warby’s full forward, Damien Egan was unstoppable, kicking 13 goals in a polished display that had him named as best on the ground.
With rain falling, the Burras continued to pile on the goals, final score Yarra Glen 1.1 to Warburton Millgrove 24.15.
For Yarra Glen, the best players were Dayne Downward, Jarrod Hull, Stirling Twite Moore, Will Goodwin, Joshua Dick and Callum Tucker and the sole goalkicker was Daniel Galbraith.
For the Burras, on top of Egan’s dominance, Joshua Read also contributed 4 goals, Marcel Kocher with 3, Hudson Semple with 2 and Brayden Ferguson, Daniel Schlueter and Christian Toy all got 1 each. The team Kobi Gay, Daniel Schlueter, Marcel Kocher, Hudson Semple and Ben Gray also saw themselves in the bests for the game.
The Yarra Glen Netball D Grade started slowly in the wet against Warburton Millgrove.
The home team was moving the ball quickly and cleanly whilst the Yarra girls were not connecting and turned the ball over numerous times to be 6 goals down at quarter time.
Whilst Yarra Glen improved their play, Warby continued to move the ball well and shoot well to run out winners, 30 to Yarra Glen 13.
Best players for Yarra Glen were Kim Christian, Sarah Matthews and Chantelle Farley.
For Warburton-Millgrove, Tamin Crunden, Tahlia Thornton and Camryn Patel all were top performers with Cam also contributing 13 goals. Cam Holland also made a return putting up 9 and Tayah Humphrey with 8.
The C Grade game started with both sides handling the wet conditions well.
Warby were just 1 goal up at the first break.
The game changed in the 2nd quarter, the home side continued to move the ball quickly and cleanly whilst Yarra Glen turned the ball over as the pressure increased.
Whilst Yarra Glen steadied in the third, Warburton Millgrove dominated the last to restrict Yarra Glen to just 1 goal.
Final scores Yarra Glen 19 to Warburton Millgrove 32.
Best players for the River Pigs were Ashley Shanks, Michele Young and Courtney Cochrane.
For the Burras, it was a great combined shooting effort from Mel Hancock 15 and Camryn Holland 17. Nicole Winzer, Camryn Holland and Mel Hancock were all awarded top performers for the game.
Warburton Millgrove started the B Grade game strongly to take a 9 to 3 lead at quarter time.
The Yarra Glen girls started to link up and with some solid defence were able to outscore the home team in each of the next 3 quarters.
It wasn’t enough to close the gap but it was a fighting effort from the Yarra girls in difficult conditions.
Final scores, Yarra Glen 20 to Warburton Millgrove 24.
Best players for Yarra Glen were Jasmin Wood, Alex Bray and Lily Toomer.
Jordana Butcher secured 13 goals and Alex Woods 11 for the Burras, with Tegan Butcher, Chelsea Barnard and Alex Woods the top performers for the match.
Expectations were high in A Grade for a close shootout between the top 2 teams.
Sadly it was not to be as Warby dominated every quarter to extend their lead from 8 goals at quarter time to 23 at the end.
The battle between the League’s top 2 goal shooters was the only highlight in a one-sided affair. Warby’s Karly Whappett shot 37 goals whilst Yarra’s Madeline Hargrave shot 34.
Final scores Yarra Glen 39 to Warburton Millgrove 62.
Yarra Glen’s players were Madeline Hargrave, Alana McGurgan and Kayla Toomer.
In the important win, Karly Wappett, Morgan Wyatt and Selina Fotia, all earned themselves top performers for Warburton-Millgrove. On top of Whappet’s sharpshooting effort, Bianca Daniels shot 25.
