Sunbury Masters love their trips to the border and brought a full-strength squad to take on the over-45’s side of the Emus, give or take a bit of youth to provide balance.
Unfortunately for the Emus, the Sunbury outfit was in impressive form, and it made for a tough start in the curtain raiser.
Despite inspirational efforts from Rob O’Connor, Troy Ramsey, Lucas Walker and Robert Guerra as well as toiling back men Kevin Dunque and Aaron Prewett, the visitors took out a comfortable win in the first game.
The main fixture saw the full-strength Emus take on the Yarrrawonga Pigeons, who had a flyer in their debut Masters season.
To keep the focus on the ‘Footy for Fun’ spirit, there are no finals in the Vic Country Masters competition, but if there were going to be, it would have been Yarrawonga, who were undefeated, against Echuca, who had dropped only two games in 2024.
There was a solid crowd assembled, and the contest certainly lived up to its premium billing. Both sides came out with fire in their belly in the first quarter, and it was a hotly fought battle, the Pigeons got the first major on the board before Clint Jurey hit back to settle the Emus and help them adjust to the speed of the game.
For most of the first half the Emus back men were under continued pressure with Paul Elso, Damien Hammond, Craig Danswan and Gary Davis fighting gallantly to resist the Pigeons attack.
At halftime, there were only two points in it, and as the players returned to the field, it could really have been any game.
To the delight of the home crowd, it was the Emus who came out hard and put on four goals to one in the third quarter, power forwards Matthew Veitch and Brad Colliver slotting majors along with Clint Jurey getting his second.
The Emus momentum was largely driven out of dominance in the midfield thanks to Leigh Owen, Mark Battiscombe, Josh Hunter and Sandy Lawrence relishing under the ruck work of Justin Voss.
The visitors were still in with a sniff and came out hard in the last quarter but the fighting Emus were able to hold them off and record their best win for the year finishing the Masters footy season on a high.
The two games were played in excellent spirit, which flowed through to a successful golden egg reverse raffle function.
Saturday, September 21, will see the Emus round out their season with the presentation night at the Echuca Workies club. This is a chance to celebrate the club’s 40th anniversary, an amazing achievement that has provided a plethora of memories.
Training will continue right up until Christmas before a short break before the new year. It will be held every Wednesday at Echuca South oval at 6pm, and newcomers and well-wishers are always welcome.
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