Dragons impress on field across all grades

WANGARATTA's under 14 side are showing some really good improvement this week. The Dragons played Magpies in Albury and the rain did not stop. Edward Robertson captained the team with great leadership and inspiration at half–time. Wangaratta followed their game plan and had many attacking movements down the wing into the D and lots of shots on goals. A great run and pass by Hamish Kerr to James Wheeler who was in great position to score a goal and was a stand out for the play of the day. Adara Evans took out the best on ground with strong defence and Lachie Rymill got the encouragement award. Unfortunately, the Dragons didn't come away with the win but they are getting better as a team, which is fantastic to see. The division three men had their work cut out for them on Saturday as they faced a strong Norths team from Albury, so it was no surprise when Hunter Kerr's goal was promptly equalised by a determined Norths team. But the Wangaratta Dragons were not going to lay down and quit. They fought back hard, with the young men on the team really stepping up to be counted. Xavier Bennett put in such an amazing performance that he was awarded the coaches' best on ground. Not to be out done by his son, Stewart Kerr stepped up and scored the winning goal in the third quarter. With experienced players on the field like Tim Longman and Anthony Couche the men made it to the final bell one goal up. The division three women played a competitive game on Saturday and won 2–0 against Wombats. Lucy North and Adelaide Crocker brought the balls into the goals where Susie Rudd and Jessica White were both in prime position to score a goal each. Full backs Jane Dwyer, Turtle and Louise Trenker played fiercely and no goal was scored on their watch. The youngsters of the team – Ada Wheeler, Ellie Samson and Lucy Dwyer – performed amazing tackling to retrieve the ball from the opposition. Hannah Davy and Lesley Forman also played well in the front and backline in a brilliant game to watch. The under 12 girls went into the game against Wodonga full of confidence after a last start win against the Magpies. The first quarter was scoreless with the Wangaratta girls creating opportunities but unable to capitalise. Early in the second quarter Wodonga scored. The Dragons responded immediately with Kiana Lane tapping one in from the left post for her tenth goal of the season. Wangaratta dominated play in the second half with Kyrah Evans and Greta Le proving impassable at half back. The game looked like ending in a stalemate before a great individual goal from captain, Emma Shallue, broke the deadlock and gave the Dragons a 2–1 lead. After a nervous last two minutes the defence held firm to give the side their third victory of the season and third position on the ladder. The under 16 boys took on top of the table Norths. With both teams undermanned due to representative duties, the boys went into the game with some confidence. With plenty more of end to end ball movement, the boys ran hard all game. Edward Robertson switched positions from wing to a more central half, and took on the switch admirably. He marked his opposing player pretty well for most of the night, but while still learning the game was caught out of position a couple of times. The other newcomer to the team, Ollie Fox, got himself in some great positions on the wing, at times to receive the ball unmarked. Jack Weir, the fearless goalie, made some fantastic saves in goals, being backed up by Alistair Merritt, who himself made a couple of amazing goal lines saves to keep the score respectable and also taking out the player of the match. Unfortunately the boys were unable to come away with a win going down 3–0 The under 16s girls took the field Friday night and welcomed Eliza Garraffo to the Dragons and she got straight into it. Adara Evans played a great game, read the play well and she was always in the best position on the field, unfortunately she didn't get the ball as much as hoped but it's something the girls were working hard to do. player of the match went to Lily Gibb FOR played hard, gaining the ball back in defence, taking those big hit outs and finding the spaces. Though our numbers are slowly growing we are still playing short and hopefully with a few more players we can turn into an attacking team and get some goals on the board.

Dragons impress on field across all grades

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