Hill End open with a win
Mirboo North v Hill End
It may have only been round one, but Hill End achieved something pretty special when they had their first win at Mirboo North since 1999.
The top two sides of the 2021 season both felt as though there was some unfinished business after the abandonment of finals gave neither a chance for a run at a premiership.
2022 is without question seen as an opportunity for both clubs to once again put themselves in a position to achieve the ultimate in the MGFNL.
The Tigers at home were always going to be a tough outfit to beat, as they are, on their unique home ground.
Despite being a little off full strength, the Rovers claimed every inch they could. A five-point quarter time margin extended to an impressive 19-point lead at half-time with the likes of Aaron Fawcett and Ambu Uliando leading the way.
That “edge” the visitors had was built on each quarter resulted in a comfortable, but impressive, 34-point victory.
Hill End coach Mike Santo said “it wasn’t a tortuous thrashing like we’ve received since 1999 but it was a hard fought contest”.
“We have a heap of respect for coach Josh Taylor and Mirboo North, so we are really pleased to come away with the win. We were able to break them open with quality ball use and we won the contest in the middle, and started to also dominate clearances and lock the ball in our end.”
Mirboo North coach Josh Taylor said it was a tough, hot game.
“Both sides had some key players out and we went in very short (height wise),” he said. “We had some real momentum at times and held for a period, but Hill End controlled it for longer periods.”
Taylor was impressed with his kids who had “a red hot crack” but admitted his senior leaders were a touch underdone and that hurt his team in the last.
The league promised a quality competitive season and every early indication is that is exactly what we are going to get.
Thorpdale v Stony Creek
Stony Creek kicked off its season with an emphatic 38-point win, a victory that was as good as it gets for the Lions.
Winning has been like gold for these two teams in recent years so the chance to open the account in the 2022 season with four premiership points was seen as crucial by both.
The Blues, at home, had been happy with their pre-season and appreciative of the numbers that made the effort in the weeks and months leading up to this day.
Equally, the Lions with some new faces, both junior and those more experienced, had given the visitors the belief a win first up was most certainly possible.
Thorpdale coach Ray Pickering said it was a good, tight first half of footy, “but we cost ourselves a two to three goal lead at half-time with some undisciplined acts”.
“Second half we couldn’t sustain our structures and fitness, allowing Stony to get on top and run over us in the end.”
Stony Creek coach Jai Acardi said “it was a great start to our season for our boys at Thorpdale against some good opposition”
“After a really even first half, we were able to pull away, even though to their credit they pushed us to the end. Although we took a while to gel, once we got going we had some really good passages of play.”
There is a long season that awaits both of these teams, but there’s no question that they will be a headache for many opposition teams in 2022.
Foster v Fish Creek
Although there have already been some new rivalries created since the merging of the Alberton league into the MGFNL, the “old” rivalries are still very much alive and they don’t get any more intense than between these two great clubs.
It appeared Foster was going to kick their season off with a win at three quarter time when the Tigers led by some 17 points. However, Fish Creek staged a sensational surge in the final 30 minutes to steal a win by less than a kick in a terrific start to their season.
There hadn’t been a lot of news coming out of Foster in the off-season, whereas Fish Creek have managed to bring back a couple of homegrown footballers to complement quite a number of juniors who were introduced to a “finals like” atmosphere to start their senior careers.
Fish Creek’s ability to snatch a victory from what seemed defeat is enough to suggest the Kangaroos are the real deal once again in 2022.
Boolarra v MDU
In the “Battle of the Demons”, it was the home side that made the most of their opportunities and ground their way to a satisfying 15-point victory.
Boolarra certainly had some tongues wagging prior to the season on the back of some impressive recruiting that included AFL premiership player Brent Guerra and NGFNL best and fairest Ricky Cochrance just to name a couple of almost a dozen new faces.
MDU on the other hand decided to keep their focus on local juniors with the hope that some could be fast tracked into having a senior impact.
The visiting Demons’ younger players certainly would have learned a lot from the experience. Wasted opportunities probably the most obvious area of improvement.
Both of these teams would have their sights set in climbing their way up into finals contention, and every win therefore is absolutely crucial. For Boolarra, they will know exactly where they stand when they meet a quality Hill End outfit in the week after Easter. For MDU, they will get their chance when they clash with Thorpdale.
Newborough v Toora
A statement was wanted to be made and indeed a statement was made by an impressive Newborough side, the Bulldogs cruising to a better than 100-point victory. In doing so, they raised the eyebrows of many clubs in the MGFNL competition.
New coach Craig Skinner had been working on this week from as far back as July 2021, carefully selecting the players he wanted to be part of a culture at Newborough, a culture he knew had been successful previously at the Bulldogs.
The visiting Toora team, under new coach Matt Ponton, were hopeful to catch the home side off guard in round one and kickstart a winning culture. But, unfortunately for the Power, it wasn’t to be.
It was a consistent, workmanlike performance by Newborough, who extended their lead at every break. They kicked four, six, five and five goals respectively in each quarter, slowly pressing their opposition into submission.
Yinnar v Tarwin
It was a terrific start to the season for Tarwin, managing to manufacture an eight-point win away from home against a Yinnar side that prides itself on being hard to beat at any time, let alone the first game of the year
The Magpies, like most, set their sights on finals football, but also realise that the expected improvement by many teams in the competition will mean that playing at the pointy end of the season cannot be taken for granted.
Yinnar coach Daniel Taylor said “our intensity was off early which put us on the back foot for most of the day”.
“To be fair, I thought we were lucky to be still in the game at three quarter time as Tarwin was clearly the better side.”
Tarwin, with new coach Troy Hemming at the helm, had enjoying footy as a first priority with winning a very close second.
Tarwin will now meet fellow first round victors Stony Creek, with both clubs wanting to make it two from two.