Six Kyabram players across two grades donned the purple and gold jumper and represented Goulburn Valley League at the weekend in its interleague clashes against Ovens and Murray League.
Seniors
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Goulburn Valley League has relinquished the Ash-Wilson Trophy to a dominant Ovens and Murray League.
Beyond a face-saving final quarter, the preceding three terms were dominated by an O&M outfit with pressure and pace to burn.
Kyabram’s Archie Watt, Aidan Robinson, Zac Norris and Charlie Barnett were included in the GVL side and played important roles up and down the field, with Watt and Robinson being named among their side’s best.
Former VFL man Kaelen Bradtke and Benalla’s Nathan Wright traded the first goals of the day, setting up what appeared to be a see-sawing affair.
But instead, the GVL was forced to wait until the fourth quarter for its next major as the O&M slammed home 13 unanswered goals on, arguably, interleague football’s biggest stage.
North Albury’s Josh Murphy proved the chief tormentor for the GV, with three of his six majors for the day coming in the first quarter as O&M jumped to a 35-point buffer at the first break.
But as would be the theme for the day, poor ball use was the GVL’s kryptonite as Jacob Conlan and Bradtke made the GVL pay for a slew of behinds down the other end to take the margin out to a half-time margin of 59 points.
Benalla defender Nick Warnock intercepted some of the O&M’s more probing inside-50 entries, but another three goals to the host saw the lead out to a game-high 79 points and the threat of a triple-figure drubbing loomed large in scarcely believable scenes.
Kade Chalcraft finally broke the goalless streak for the GVL early in the fourth quarter with a slickly converted set shot, followed swiftly by McShane’s own major to generate a bit of buzz among the faithful.
However, it was Murphy with the final say of the day, his sixth goal handing the O&M an 18.19 (127) to 7.8 (50) triumph and the GVL one of its bigger defeats.
For GVL coach Dale Osborne, the result boiled down to better preparation and cleaner ball use on the part of the O&M, but he remained optimistic about the experience provided for his playing group.
“We finished off a lot better than we started,” Osborne said.
“For me, it was just our ability to stem the bleeding from what O&M was delivering us early on, which set them up and gave them that confidence.
“Our skill execution was poor; they had a lot of front-on pressure which made it hard for us to hit targets.
“The boys bought in and the experience has been good. We only trained for three weeks, but the group really connected, which made the result even worse for us.
On a stage designed to showcase the best talents in the competition, the GVL had plenty of players show their class.
“Nick Warnock was sensational, he would have clunked about 10, 12 marks,” Osborne said.
“Ash Holland was really good in the ruck, throwing Oliver Warburton on the ball in the second half gave us a bit more drive in the middle.
“Aidan Robinson and Bryce Stephenson worked their a*se off down back against some pretty exceptional delivery.
“Jake Watts was good, he gave us some run, same with Archie Watt.
Under-18
At the end of the day, the only thing separating Goulburn Valley League and Ovens and Murray in a memorable under-18 interleague clash at WJ Findlay Reserve was the ability to win the 50-50 moments.
With six lead changes and the margin failing to wander beyond a goal until the late stages of the game, the GV produced a gallant showing as each league’s rising stars showcased their skill set.
Two such young guns, Isaiah Scoble and Charlie Isaac represented Kyabram in the contest.
O&M’s Kade Hadley had the first say, but industrious GVL and Shepparton ruckman Liam Broom wasn’t far off with a reply, chopping off an errant defensive kick out and calmly slotting the first of the game for the visitor.
Mansfield’s Sam Guppy provided some run and dash out of the back half for the GV, but O&M managed to steal a seven-point advantage heading into quarter-time courtesy of Corey Peterson.
Noah Muir (Shepparton) and Isaac both goaled early in the second to hand the GVL the lead for the first time, while a threatening O&M’s rapid transition footy was only undone by an inaccurate run of four behinds, broken by Will Robertson.
Mooroopna bull Oscar Emanuelli lifted a notch with some good work out of the contest for a goal, again answered by O&M , which went into half-time holding a five-point buffer.
Rory Duffy’s running goal, followed by Muir’s second and Hudson Kellet’s goal out of the contest, saw the GVL out to a game-high 12-point lead.
While Lambourn provided the sole strike of the quarter for the GV, it was beset by a raging Robertson, whose pivotal pair of goals in the fourth quarter would eventually earn best-on-ground honours.
The 10.13 (73) to 9.6 (60) victory hands the O&M its third consecutive win in the fixture, but despite ruing what could have been, GVL coach Ramadan Yze was buoyed by the ability of his players to shake a slow start.
“Disappointed we didn’t get the result, obviously, but the boys never gave up,” Yze said.
“I thought (O&M) worked harder than we did without the footy, but to the boys’ credit they fought it right to the end.
“I think it was just a mindset change for the boys; they realised they were up to it and can compete with the best.
“To their credit, they fought back into the contest, and they were up at three-quarter time, they just couldn’t hang on.
“I think they did their clubs proud and the league proud. What these kids produced I thought was magnificent.”