Wangaratta Rovers will face their arch rivals Wangaratta in an Ovens and Murray senior grand final for the second year in a row, after outlasting Myrtleford by 28 points at the Albury Sportsground on Sunday. The Rovers controlled proceedings almost all day in the preliminary final, putting separation between them and the Saints with a four-goal second quarter surge. Their four-goal margin at half time would hold firm for most of the second half until Myrtleford challenged late in the third and early in the last quarter, when their stars Riley Smith and Jaxon East hit the scoreboard to bring it within 14 points. But the Hawks’ firepower proved too much to handle as they kicked away to an 11.10 (76) to 6.12 (48) victory. Prime movers Mitch Hardie, Charlie Thompson and Sam Murray all fired for the Rovers while Jai Dal Zotto was tenacious in the contest all day. It’s the third grand final in a row for the Wangaratta Rovers who are seeking a historic three-peat next Sunday at Lavington, while the Magpies are back in the grand final for the first time since 2022. The Rovers and the Magpies will also be vying for grand final glory in other football and netball divisions at Lavington. Wangaratta Rovers’ reserve footballers beat Lavington by a point in extra time in Sunday’s nail biting preliminary final and will take on Albury in the grand final, while Wangaratta thirds footballers will meet Wodonga Raiders in the grand final after the Raiders pulled off a miraculous win against Albury. Wangaratta Rovers’ C grade netballers thumped Lavington 37 to 24 in their preliminary final and will meet Wangaratta in Sunday’s grand final. In other netball grades, Wodonga beat Yarrawonga 53 to 52 and will now face Wodonga Raiders in the A grade grand final; Lavington were too strong for Wangaratta in the B grade, winning 40 to 32 and will meet Yarrawonga in the grand final; Myrtleford beat Lavington 43 to 39 in the U17s and will face Wodonga Raiders in the grand final; and Wangaratta U15s pulled up short against Wodonga Raiders 49 to 38, and Raiders now face Wodonga in the grand final.
