Eagles shine late in win over rivals
Ellinbank v Longwarry
The grand final rematch from 2019 lived up to the hype, with Ellinbank turning the tables on Longwarry in a hard fought 13.6 (84) to 11.10 (76) victory.
The match was fast paced early as Longwarry got the jump on the Eagles, booting four goals in the first term, two of which went to leading goal kicker Jason Wells who threatened to break the game open.
That’s when a change was made, with young Blake Notman taking on the task of slowing Wells down and the Eagles lifted, cutting the lead to 13 points at the main break.
The third quarter was when Ellinbank put the foot down, booting four goals to one to turn the game on its head. Ben Wragg was looking dangerous in front of goal, as was Jake Dean and the match up on Wells had seen Notman hold him in check for much of the middle part of the game.
Ellinbank didn’t relinquish the lead in the final term kicking another four goals to make sure of the result when Longwarry challenged again, eventually making some small amends to the grand final result in 2019, winning by eight points.
Coach Ben Wragg said he was proud of the way his side reacted after being challenged early.
“Early in the game we had our chances, we missed two or three from 20 metres out, and they went down the other end and kicked three goals. We probably could have dropped our heads, but everyone ran out the game really well.
“With 10 minutes to go, we really dug deep and never gave up,” Wragg said.
Wragg booted three goals for the Eagles, while Jake Dean supported him well with three. Mark Johnson and Adam Cook both booted two for the victorious side.
Johnson was named best on ground, with Wragg, Cook, Adam Battista, Bryce Joyce and Mick Urie rounding out the best.
Wragg praised the work of Johnson and youngster Bryce Joyce, who is stringing together a brilliant season down back for the Eagles.
“Johnson has had two really good weeks in a row and Joyce continues to improve, he was fantastic in the backline.
“It was a good country game of footy and good to have our first real test and hit out, we got through injury free too,” Wragg said.
For Longwarry, Braydon McHugh was the danger man with three goals, while Jason Wells kicked two.
Ben McKenna, returning ruckman Jackson Caddy, Braydon McHugh, Nathan Fry and Russell Lehmann all played top quality games for the Crows in the loss.