THE under 16 Dragons girls played their last game of the season on Friday night - for some it was their last game as an under 16 as they age out. Led onto the pitch by captain Ellie Samson, the girls were all wearing smiles of excitement. With 14 players, they had three subs to ensure everyone could give it their all knowing there would be opportunities for rest during the game. Playing the Albury Falcons is always a challenge as they are a strong team, however the girls showed the skills and fitness they have worked on all year. The defensive line of Charlotte Bongers, Aimee McLaurin and goalie Eliza Garaffo kept the score to their best start yet with the Falcons scoring right at the end of the first quarter. The frustration was evident as Ellie Samson, Ada Wheeler and Chloe Mercer were able to stop many attacks from the Falcons before they got into the D. Lily Gibb led the forwards, with assistance from Bella Goodman, and Charlotte Marshall in the wing. Inners Isabella Coghetto and Eva Siperki were able to support both forwards and the defending midfield. With so many subs available it meant that the girls could try a new position. Adara Evans subbed into the forward line, Caitlin Barnden was an awesome defender as usual and really showed what a great player she will be in the future - the smallest girl on the field, Barnden was everywhere and gave the Falcons a challenge. Coach Izaac Cameron has introduced some new skills and differing plays to the team, with a few code words used during the game to try to baffle the opposition. Ellie Samson used her big hitting skills to belt the ball forwards for the girls to receive and run into the goal circle. While they didn’t end their season with a win, all the girls came away from the game knowing that they had played their best as a team and with high hopes for next year as they build on this year. Up against the second-placed Magpies Norths, Wangaratta’s under 14 boys had a big job ahead of them. Rory Gibb and Brodie Chisolm were given tagging roles against the Magpies two key playmakers, and what a difference it made. The Dragons started strongly and did a lot of the early attacking, with Alistair Merritt converting the team’s first goal from a short corner. Rory and Brodie were doing a fantastic job tagging and the Magpies were finding it hard to work into space and attack, but they scored their first goal on the first quarter to draw level. The second quarter was again a tight contest, however, the Magpies gained the lead with a second goal. Rory Gibb had play of the day late in the game - he ran down his opponent after chasing him from the halfway line deep into the opposition forward area, then tackled and stole the ball, and turned and ran the ball out of defence and passed into our forward half. The Magpies scored again in the last quarter after finding a free attacker on the end of a good pass, the score was 3-1 to the Magpies. The Dragons responded with a late goal to Hamish Kerr to make it 2-3. They were attacking again late, however, ran out of time. This was their best game of the season, the improvement of this team has been enormous.
