By Alex Woods
Warburton-Millgrove FNC took the journey to Yea this weekend to take on Broadford in netball and Broadford/Yea in Football. Colder conditions with some wet weather in between, with some muddy footy which made for some interesting matches.
Dale Morris had his family supporting him for his 250th game and as well as Bianca Fraser for her 150th netball match.
The morning started with D Grade taking on Powelltown again, despite coming home with a win the last time they met, the Burras couldn’t quite get the result they were after today. Tougher day in the office with an end result of 18-9 Powelltown’s way. Courtney Godenzi, Nicole Winzer and Cam Partel were awarded best for the match with Cam Partel shooting 3, Maddi McConachy with 3 and Cam Holland with 5.
The 17 and Under team were next taking on Broadford. This was set to be a tough match with the last result being a draw. This team come with heaps of talent and strength and the Warburton-Millgrove kids knew they had to put up a strong fight from the get-go. They did exactly that and had a 0-5 head start at quarter time. But unfortunately, unable to hold it with Broadford slowly closing the gap game within each quarter. The game was even at 3qtr time and it was back to the beginning, Broadford attacked strong and pulled away by 4 goals by the end of the last term. 14-10 was the final score. Nothing but small mistakes from the Burras end which they can hopefully fix for the next match-up. Tegan Butcher, Ashlee Freedman and Lucas Rush were top performers for this match. Tayah Humphrey and Tahlia Thornton both shot 5 goals each.
Next up was C Grade netball and Bianca Fraser’s 150th game for the Burras. A strong start to the Burras being up 4-12 at quarter time, which extended to 10-20 at half time as Broadford slightly reached closer. They pushed on in the second half and took home another with of 16-29. One home and away game left, can C Grade continue their undefeated streak? Bianca Fraser, Leah Ashton, Ellie Stahl were awarded best on court with Emily Hay putting up 16 goals, Mel Hancock with 11 and Brooke de Pedro contributing 2 goals.
Reserves took the field for some muddy footy. A 0-27 head start at quarter time, which then moved to 14-52 by the end of the first half. The boys left the opposition scoreless in the 3rd quarter and managed to snag another 4 goals themselves. The end result was 4.2-26 to 14.8-92 as Damien Egan kicked 4 goals, Ash Taylor with 3, Marcel Kocher with 2 and Troy Dargie, Matt Godenzi, Stuart Irwin, Josh Read and Matt Sidari all had one. Top performers were all awarded to Luke Darwall, Jackson Blake, Caleb Sinniah, Joshua Read, Damien Egan and Ashley Taylor.
B Grade was on court next and just like the 17s, was set to be a tough match after a draw the last time they met. But unfortunately, it wasn’t their day and with minor errors, end up with a 20-goal
loss. They started strong being 2 goals down at quarter time, but the gap grew as the quarters went on. Grace Robinson, Tegan Butcher and Alexandra Woods were awarded top performers for
the Burras, with Alexandra Woods putting up 12 goals, Jordana Butcher with 6 and Ella Meerkotter with 4. The girls take on Kinglake next week in the hope to regain momentum heading into the finals.
Once again, A Grade showed their skills and strength and took home a comfortable win against Broadford. At the halftime break, the girls had a 15-24 lead and were showing no signs of going down. The end result was 37-53 and showed even goaling contributions by all 3 gaolers with Shae Gee putting up 20, Bianca Daniels with 17 and Kirralee Luiyf with 16. Ally Langdon, Ashlyn Elliott and Taylah Moschetti were all awarded best on with the amazing defence throughout the day. Still remain undefeated with 1 game left to go.
Seniors finished off the day taking on Broadford/Yea. Just like the reserves, muddy and wet conditions made for some interesting footy. Broadford/Yea put up a good fight against the Warburton-Millgrove boys and it’s great to see the improvement from the club from last year to now. Our boys got a good jump by the end of the first quarter with a 7-35 lead. By half time margin was 15-50 but Broadford managed to keep the gap contained with Burras being up 31 points at three-quarter time. The end result was 6.5-41 to 10.15-75 with Brady Mitchell kicking 4 goals, Marcus Hottes with 2 and Mitch Bonuda, Jack Farrugia, Shaun Marusic and Josh Read all secured 1 each. The top performers for this match were Thomas Marr, Brayden Woolridge, Brady Mitchell, Harry Rothwell, Marcus Hottes and Joel Coombs. Big match next weekend against Kinglake to finish off the Home and Away season.
The following day was a big day for the club. The Under 18s were playing off for the premiership title. Our last premiership flag for the club was 2011, which was one by our Reserves footy. Warburton-Millgrove’slast Under 18ss flag was in 2008 ( last junior flag prior was 27 years before), won by Shawn Andueza, Jackson Jones and Kris Hall, just to name a few. Co-Captains Ziggy Kneebone and Josh Sharp led their team out to take on a strong Kinglake. A strong and physical match was ahead with Kinglake having 3-1 wins against them, but the Burras came out strong kicking 3.4 to Kinglake 1.2 by the end of the first term. The energy was good, they knew it was going to be a tough match and were prepared for the next three quarters of footy. Coach Dave Swankie had prepped this team all week, they knew what they were coming up against and took every strategy they could to get the win. By halftime, the boys were 20 points up, but there was no time to take the foot off the pedal. This second half was crucial, Kinglake is a strong skilled team. Top-aged boys too. The Warburton-Millgrove U18s are 65 per cent Wesburn juniors who are still eligible to play Junior footy, the majority still playing Sundays too. But they proved that age doesn’t mean much, skills and strength from start to finish are what get you over the line. They went from a team in Round One that was unsure if they would be able to take the field against Alexandra for their first game as they had no numbers, to having 27 players on the list by the time the season ended.
The 20-point gap remained by 3 quarter time. Last quarter of footy, crucial that the boys keep their feet, and focus on the footy. Despite the surroundings of the crowd, the momentum and the feeling that was going to evolve in the last 20 mins of match play, the boys stayed cool, calm and collected. Showed great composure and even better discipline. 5 goals were kicked in the last quarter by the Burras to Kinglake’s 1. The final siren sounded and they were PREMIERS. The presentation occurred, and Warburton-Millgrove’s very own Patty Huynh was awarded Player of the Match, but everyone played an amazing match.
It was then over to watch Wesburn Juniors (where the majority of the team played their Junior Footy) to cheer them on in their finals, then to the club for a BBQ. These boys go down in Burras history. Well done Swanks, Walky and team.
