THE old and the new was on display for Yarrawonga in Sunday’s preliminary final loss to Lavington.
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With Craig Ednie taking to an Ovens and Murray field for the last time in Drew Barnes’ final game as coach, it was the Pigeons’ young guns who almost pulled off a miraculous comeback.
Yarrawonga trailed by 37 points when Justin Koschitzke kicked his third goal for the day at the 14-minute mark of the final quarter.
But, showing they had learnt some lessons in a qualifying final belting at the hands of the Panthers, the Pigeons refused to give in as Bronson Schofield, Bodhi Butts, Matt Gorman and Logan Morey mounted one last charge.
The Pigeons booted the final four goals of the match – with Ednie kicking two – but they ultimately ran out of time as the Panthers prevailed 13.5 (83) to 10.11 (71).
Yarrawonga dominated the inside 50m count and had three more scoring shots than Lavington but paid the price for bombing away and missing several golden opportunities.
Adam Prior (four), Jack Nunn (three) and Koschitzke (three) combined for 10 goals – and just three behinds – as the Panthers moved through to the grand final.
With Tom Walliss marking everything across half-back, the Pigeons started brightly and led by two points at quarter-time.
But the Panthers stepped up a gear in the second term, with Prior, Nunn and Koschitzke all kicking two goals apiece.
Whereas the Panthers’ trio kicked 6.0 between them, the Pigeons were hurt by kicking 2.4 for the quarter and trailed by 18 points at the main change.
Brad O’Connor reduced the margin to 13 points with his second goal five minutes into the third quarter before John Hunt and Prior steadied the ship with majors late in the term.
If the Pigeons were going to seriously challenge the Panthers, it would have to come early in the last quarter and things couldn’t have started worse with Luke Garland bending home a checkside 25 seconds in.
Koschitzke put the result beyond doubt with his third but not before goals to Barnes, Brady Pritchard and Ednie in the final 10 minutes at least gave the Panthers a few tense moments.
Barnes, who will remain with the Pigeons as a player, said he was proud of how the Pigeons’ younger brigade performed and was confident they had a bright future.
“There’s still a lot of development to go for these kids but for them to get the experience of three hard, tough Ovens and Murray finals, it’s a great thing for the club,” he said.
“They’re fantastic, they’re like a sponge and always eyeballing when you’re talking to them. We’re in a good position as a club.”