A THREE-goal final quarter from Albury star Brayden O’Hara lifted the Tigers to a three-point win over Eastlake at Football Park in Canberra on Saturday.
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With both clubs taking under-strength line-ups into the clash, the reigning Ovens and Murray premiers did just enough to get the line.
Dederang-Mount Beauty youngster Elliott Powell carried his strong intra-club form into the clash with an impressive performance around the packs while Mark Bush stood out across half-back in his return match to the Tigers.
Will Smith, Joel Mackie, O’Hara and Chris Hyde also played well.
Will Haberecht battled well in the ruck against bigger and more experienced Eastlake opponents.
Former Lavington player Brydan Hodgson was outstanding in the midfield for Eastlake.
Albury coach Daniel Maher said the Tigers took plenty out of the match.
“It’s always a good, hard hit-out against Eastlake,” Maher said.
“Both sides had a fair few players missing but we got a lot out of it.”
Albury went into the clash without several big names including Setanta o’hAilpin and Angus Graham, while youngster Dom Brew was unavailable due to his debut Mixed Martials Arts fight in Queensland.
Meanwhile, Lavington recruit Matt Sharp made a strong debut for the Panthers in their 29-point loss to Ainslie in Canberra on Saturday.
The Belconnen signing slotted well into the Ovens and Murray club’s midfield, with youngster Chris Annett also impressing.
ALBURY 12.11 (83) vs EASTLAKE 11.14 (80)
- Goals: ALBURY: B. O’Hara 3; EASTLAKE: Unavailable.
- Best: ALBURY: E. Powell, M. Bush, W. Smith, J. Mackie, C. Hyde, W. Haberecht; EASTLAKE: B. Hodgson.
AINSLIE 12.5 (77) vs LAVINGTON 7.6 (48)
- Goals: AINSLIE: Unavailable: LAVINGTON: Molkentein 2, Way 2, Butler, Dess, Hitchens.
- Best: AINSLIE: Unavailable; LAVINGTON: Sharp, Annett, Nunn, Boyd, Molkentein, Clark, Sullivan.
