Getting clear: Avenel’s Braydon Avola was a driving force in an excellent triumph. Photo: Wayne Herring
One Swans side certainly got the job done late this weekend.
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Avenel looked down and out in patches early in its Kyabram District League round three meeting at home with Tallygaroopna.
Trailing by 21 points at the first change, and with both sides sitting at 2-0 heading to Avenel Recreation Reserve, Tallygaroopna’s Brent Arho and Nathan Smith were forming a potentially lethal one-two punch.
Although the Swans awoke prior to the long break, the Redlegs maintained a slim advantage at half-time.
The third term saw an all-out display of attacking football as the scoreboard started rapidly ticking over on the top and bottom.
But again Avenel simply could not stick its nose in front of a Tallygaroopna outfit that has strongly benefited from a bolstered forward line this year.
The Arho-Smith combination eventually found itself outgunned late as the Swans called on a far more balanced range of contributors around the big sticks.
In the end, Avenel wiped the early deficit to move to 3-0 in a victory to savour, scraping home by the barest of margins in a 12.12 (84) to 13.5 (83) win.
Eyes on the big sticks: Avenel’s Joshua Delaney. Photo: Wayne Herring
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Clutched it: Avenel's Joshua Carrafa. Photo: Wayne Herring
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Seeking space: Avenel’s Charles Neilson. Photo: Wayne Herring
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Up they fly: Avenel’s Andrew Dowling and Tallygaroopna’s Andrew Oldfield. Photo: Wayne Herring
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Somehow clunked it: Avenel’s Liam Lucas and Tallygaroopna’s Kyle Montgomery. Photo: Wayne Herring
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Got it done: The final scoreboard was a relief for the unbeaten Swans. Photo: Wayne Herring
Senior coach Matthew Huy was grateful for his many contributors after eight players combined for the Swans’ 12 goals.
“The game definitely started in Tally’s favour, but credit to our guys, they didn’t panic,” Huy said.
“They worked back into it well in the second quarter, so I give a lot of credit to them.
“It’s not just all about the main guys up in the forward line. It’s great to see a team effort as opposed to one main bloke kicking it.”
That balanced series of contributions paid off despite some inaccuracy at times, with Braydon Avola, Alex Crnko, Brayden Hardstaff and captain Jack Myers putting two each on the board.
“I think sharing it around contributed (to the comeback). We knew it was going to come down to the wire,” Huy said.
“We had no interchange for the last quarter-and-a-half and I think we only had 17 on for the last half of that third quarter.
“The boys rallied with two late goals and that put us right back into it.”
A 3-0 start with everyone playing their role around goals will feed into some ambitions for later in the year.
“The boys have certainly done the work for it in the off-season with a whole heap of new guys coming in this year,” Huy said.
“It’s normal to struggle a bit early when you’ve got guys only having played three games and a couple of practice matches together.
“They’ve gelled, though, and they trust in each other and play for one another.”
Not ones to do things easily on the courts either, Avenel and Tallygaroopna went hard at it in a pulsating A-grade match-up.
The Swans pulled off a remarkable coup, unseating the 2023 runner-up for their second win of 2024, winning 48-46.
News was not so pleasant out at Longwood, where the home side fell to 0-3 on the football field after a sound 17.20 (122) to 12.4 (76) defeat at the hands of Nagambie.
The netballers, in a rare turn of events, suffered an even greater losing margin, proving no match for the A-grade Lakers in a 67-12 rout.
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