Echuca
Under-10 Murray Bombers vs Runnymede Blue
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It was a strong start to the first half between Runnymede and Echuca Murray Bombers with both teams demonstrating great skills, hard play and even scoring. A terrific effort in the forward by Ryder, Hugh, Eddie, Edward and Hunter J.
Our defence and midfielders held up strongly, pushing more of the play into Echuca’s half with great defence by Jack, Finn, Edward, Lochy and Luca and really solid tackling across the field all half.
In the second half the Murray Bombers really found their groove and demonstrated some really strong attacking and teamwork. They dominated on the board from strong play across the midfield and forward line with great work by Jack, Hugh, Jolie, Hunter and Finn.
Blake and Harry proved really strong in the midfield and forward with lots of running and Luca showed some real bravery and huge kicking to secure two goals.
A special mention to our mini assistant coach Jasper (injured). Well done to our amazing award winners Edward, Jack and Eddie, so well deserved. Thanks to the umpires and parent helpers.
Well done Echuca Murray Bombers on another great game. You should be so proud of your efforts and the level of skill and sportsmanship you are displaying so early in the season.
By Rachel Colless
Under-10 Green vs Moama Black
Friday night football reminded us that footy is indeed a winter sport. Cold conditions but enthusiastic players, we were keen to start stronger than the previous week.
Moama Black showed they were going to be competitive, with many scoring shots and lots of attacking play. Locky Field was on fire in the first quarter, getting plenty of touches and kicking some ripper goals.
Our captain for the week, Max Tonkin, stepped up and showed great leadership — especially in the forward line — also scoring a classic roving goal. Hopefully Wil Roberts (Robbo) went home and iced his foot because he saw plenty of football and scored several goals for the team.
It was great to see our first gamer, Ryder Potier, kick a goal and the team surrounding him in celebration. Once again, Billy Quirk, the Turkey, was warmed up and was the fourth quarter specialist, creating great play and showing impressive skills.
Well done on a great team effort, with lots to celebrate.
By Rebecca Lloyd
Under-10 White vs Moama
On Friday night, Echuca White under-10s travelled over the new bridge to play Moama Magpies under lights.
Having had a bye the previous week, the boys were chomping at the bit to get going.
From the centre bounce to the final siren the boys were implementing all they had learnt from trainings with Tim.
There were many tackles, clearances from centres and smothers — all which aided in us scoring.
Award winners for this week were Harry Saunders, Ned O’Neale and Jaxon Key.
A fantastic effort overall from the Whites. It was a great first game of the season!
By Sarah Brighton
Under-10 Bombers vs Echuca United Eagles Gold
The Bombers travelled to the Eagles’ nest looking to build momentum after a solid week on the training track.
In chilly conditions, Keanu Austin made his debut and was in everything. Ash Quayle picked up where he finished last week covering plenty of ground. Max Williams was getting his hands on the ball early with some critical midfield clearances.
Jobe Hosking was in every pack feeding the ball out to Bomber runners. Harry Farrant and Jack Ridge put on enormous forward pressure resulting in a goal to Ridge. Jaxon Foley was everywhere hitting the packs hard.
Max Gill and Charlie Hearn continued their great form from last week providing the Bombers with plenty of run and carry. Tom Arthurson was racking up plenty of touches and kicked a great goal in the dying seconds.
In the second stanza, Lucy Donnan controlled the defensive third. Along with Austin and Taranto, the Bomber defence was combining brilliantly. Flynn McCredden was in everything, along with Hearn and Emonson, who were tackling with fierce intent, culminating in a great Farrant goal from the pocket.
The third quarter started with Hearn in everything. Taranto swooped on a loose ball and goaled. Gill and Foley provided the midfield grunt, creating numerous opportunities for their forwards. Taranto kicked another great goal from the boundary and Emonson goaled from long-range rewarding the Bombers for their hard work.
A stirring three-quarter time address resonated with the young Bombers and while the temperature continued to drop, the Bombers’ intensity did not.
Ridge’s work rate went up another gear and was rewarded with a great mark and goal. Oliver Wallis goaled after some tremendous work from Arthuson and McCredden.
The Bombers continued to work hard until the end, and now look forward to hosting Moama Red on Friday night at Victoria Park.
Awards Odd Captain — Jaxon Foley, Jack Ridge and Charlie Hearn.
By Brock Williams
Under-12 Green vs Moama Black
In a tough first quarter, Echuca put up a strong defence led by Lachie J., Jack S., Edward K. and Billy S. to concede only three behinds despite Moama commanding most of the play in their forward line.
The second quarter saw Echuca continue their strong defence when tested by Moama’s attacking forwards. Echuca’s back line and midfield stood up when it counted with strong tackling and marking on show by Jobe M., Angus T., Nick O., Ryder C., Sam H., Paddy K., Billy S. and Lachie J.
An energised Echuca came out attacking in the third quarter, with Lachie J. dominating in the centre and scoring the team’s first goal after a strong mark in the goal square. Sam H., Billy S. and Mannix G. also kicked minor scores to bring Echuca level with Moama.
An early goal in the fourth quarter by Paddy K. gave Echuca a slim lead. Moama responded quickly with a goal and a behind to claw back the lead. A strong performance by Echuca’s midfield and forward line including Reeve S., Lachie C. and Jordi H., with further goals by Lachie J. and Sam H., secured the win for Echuca.
By Jane Millar
Under-12 Bombers vs Echuca United
Winter certainly arrived for the Friday night clash with very chilly conditions. After shooing a few penguins away, the game got under way.
This week’s team had more missing than the world hide and seek championships of 2007, but with a couple of handy recruits in Henry Bell and Charlie Voss, we were able to field a competitive side.
This was fortunate as the Echuca United team were brilliant in the first quarter and really set the tone for a tough game. They showed terrific skill and run and got the jump on the Bombers.
Nate Murphy started off well with some great runs out of defence and an excellent chase-down tackle. Jencie Dunn had a great effort in the middle, and some strong marking from Ducky kept some pressure in our forward 50 which resulted in a goal.
Connor Williams was having a blinder with a great kick to Arli who scored a goal, then got on the end of some great teamwork from Levi and Nate that allowed Connor to kick a goal for himself.
Henry Bell was running everywhere and got on the scoreboard with a couple of goals.
Arli Walker got crunched in a tackle and was pretty sore but played a stellar game with lots of forward line creativity.
Grace Napier took a great mark up forward and selflessly handballed off for a great team score. Gus Clyne was very busy all game and managed a goal too.
Levi Weeks played a great game with some excellent running and great kicking into the forward line. Jed Dullard was his usual tough tackling self and helped set up some scoring too.
Charlie Voss had a real night out. He was hard working in the ruck and had some excellent long runs out of the backline, also scoring a goal to cap off a brilliant game.
Joey Lowry, Jobe Williams and Lily Dunham all played really well too and helped keep pressure around the ball.
Jagger Walter and Taj Maddox were excellent and worked really hard to lock the ball into our forward line which allowed us to keep scoring and control the game.
Sam McCleary copped a hard knock on his inherited dancing hips and had to come off, but valiantly returned late to snag a goal.
There was some exciting team play which is exactly what the coaches were asking for. Wonderful effort from all the coaches, umpires, runners and supporters to come out on a cold night but were richly rewarded with some fine play from the kids.
Wishing a speedy recovery to all our teammates who were out this week.
By Iain McCleary
Under-13 Bombers vs Notre Maroon
Echuca Bombers travelled to Shepparton to take on Notre Maroon for a Mother’s Day showdown in perfect autumn conditions at the Emmaus Campus.
Notre got off to a solid start dictating play in the opening minutes and scoring the first major. Mac Dalziel took a couple of great grabs, Ollie Spring put on plenty of ball pressure, and Flynn Carr, Ben Henson and Charlie Sutton had lots of the ball early. There were plenty of strong contests and our boys did well leading from the front.
In the last five minutes of the quarter the Bombers ran rings around Notre, putting their heads over the ball and really turning up the intensity. In the words of co-coach Sutto: “We tackled like maniacs, which kept us in it.”
The Bombers were superb in the first 10 minutes of the second quarter, with strong play by Hatfield, Archie Johnson, Nate Smith and Hunter Reid. We hit the scoreboard early with a behind each to Will Jeffreys and Mitch Sutton.
Carr also had a super quarter, kicking the Bombers’ first goal halfway through the term to put our boys in front.
Notre quickly replied with a goal to reclaim the lead, and then kicked another late in the term when our boys were looking tired.
Hatfield and Spring created plenty of run in the third quarter, assisted by Henson who took a swag of strong marks in the centre of the ground. Sutton kicked a sneaky goal, Jaxon Hogan was strong in the ruck and Kai Anderson created plenty of opportunities across the field.
To their credit, Notre outworked our lads, getting four or five players to each contest and kicking a couple of goals to stretch their lead.
Sutton starred at full-back in the final term, repelling Notre’s fierce attack on goals. Spring put a strong hit on a bloke three times his size, Jeffreys took a ripping grab and Lenny Clyne kicked a minor.
Despite some great contests, our boys were unable to claw back the lead, going down by 19 points.
Awards went to Flynn Carr, Kai Anderson and Archie Johnson.
By Leonie Canham
Moama
Under-12 Black vs Echuca Green
Moama Black headed to Victoria Park for their Sunday clash with Echuca Green.
Moama bounced out of the blocks with Ben McRae capitalising on some good clearance work from Tonny Dohnt and Hugh McDonald and scoring a goal early in the game.
Moama controlled most of the play in the first half with Ted Limbrick, James Cain, Fin Cox and Willy Edwards-Atkinson sharing the ball well together and creating numerous forward entries.
The second half saw a tight contest with Jasper Hearn, Marley Goddard, and Will Styles working tirelessly in the backline to thwart Echuca's attacks.
In the forward line, Xav Phillips, Max Laurie and Kaiden Peace created plenty of forward drive and worked very hard to bring other players into the game. Chayce Green and Harvey Van Haaster never gave up applying pressure with lots of great tackling.
Overall it was a great team performance that made Moama's coach very proud.
By Ben Hearn
Echuca United
Under-17 vs Barooga
We travelled to Barooga keen to fix our pattern of slow starts and the boys certainly did that.
A six goal to one first term saw us grab the ascendancy and from there the game was always in our keeping.
Fayte was having a field day when he went forward and if he’d had the kicking boots on, the scoreboard would have looked ugly.
Tommy was fantastic rucking one out all day, Maiso cracked in as usual and Jake Clancy, kicking three goals from the midfield, got reward for his massive work rate from the first to last siren.
Godders was dynamic again on the wing and then was asked to play a different role at centre half back in the last term and didn’t miss a beat. Barney capitalised on the good work further up the field, kicking three goals.
With 12 individual goal kickers for the day it ended up being a well-rounded team performance.
Awards: Rich River Golf Club - Jake Clancy. Snap Fitness Echuca - Tom Boylan-Roberts. Brooklyn Barbers Echuca - Fayte Belmont-Wickliffe. KFC Echuca - Bryce Barnstable. Tarantos Pizza - Maisyn Douglas. Hip Pocket Towel - Riley Godfrey.
By Robert Chapman
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