Leading the way: Avenel's Alex Crnko got straight to work at the weekend with three goals in a big win. Photo: Wayne Herring
Avenel and Violet Town had to wait, but the Kyabram District League is finally up and running — although the two sides experienced disparate fortunes.
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On the football field, the round one senior game generally strolled along comfortably, with Avenel maintaining modest two-goal leads at the first two changes.
Both sides spurned many a chance during the opening half, with a combined 6.16 on the board at the long break.
The switch flicked in the third term as both sides got their kicking boots on, with the Swans collecting an 18-point buffer at three-quarter time.
Things turned on their head after that, though.
Avenel firmly took control of the game initially scheduled for Sunday, which came forward a day, with a Herculean final quarter effort as scoring opened up on both sides.
The Swans found the big sticks 10 times in the last half hour, sinking the Towners despite the visitors finding time for six scoring shots of their own.
The final scoreline hardly reflects three quarters of hard-fought effort, but Avenel did the work with the chips down to walk away with an 18.12 (120) to 8.13 (61) victory.
On the angle: Avenel’s Dylan Hoysted attempts a checkside kick from the boundary. (Photo: Wayne Herring)
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Spotting a lead: Avenel’s Jack Myers puts boot to ball. (Photo: Wayne Herring)
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Quick receive: Avenel’s Joshua Carrafa takes possession. (Photo: Wayne Herring)
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Range tested: Avenel’s Ashley Hansen shoots from distance. (Photo: Wayne Herring)
Head coach Matthew Huy happily watched his team’s cohesion develop in real time.
“In the last term, the boys actually started playing for each other and working as a team,” Huy said.
“There are a lot of new blokes in the team and they were learning to gel in the first half or three quarters, but we were able to start doing that and take control of the game.
“The message at three-quarter time was that we’ve done the work and now we’re starting to trust each other.
“It wasn’t just one or two guys putting the score up there, guys from on-ballers through to our forward line were able to convert.”
It was a similarly tight situation over on the netball courts as the A-grade Swans and Towners got down to business.
Unlike in the seniors, this contest went to the very end, but Violet Town successfully salvaged a key victory on the day by holding Avenel off for a 51-49 win to kick off the year.
Avenel meets Undera next week, with its senior and A-grade sides likely entering as favourites.
It gets no easier for Violet Town’s footballers, next tasked with meeting a Murchison-Toolamba outfit that laid waste to Nagambie in the Sunday game.
The Towners’ A-grade side will fancy itself as odds-on favourites in their encounter, though.
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