COROWA-Rutherglen snatched victory in the dying minutes to score a rare away win against Lavington on Saturday.
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In wet and slippery conditions at the Lavington Panthers Oval, the Panthers jumped away to an early lead and were up by four goals at the first break.
But the Roos stayed with them and slowly narrowed the margin, eventually drawing level in the final minutes before goal shooter Casandra Hughes shot the winner.
The win means the Roos are 1-1 after two rounds, having only won one game (with one draw) in the whole of last season.
The win followed a strong performance against powerhouse North Albury last week which saw the Roos go down by only 11 goals.
“It was a very exciting finish, they led all day until probably the last 90 seconds,” Roos coach and centre Beck Didier said.
“We didn’t give up and it was a great win, we owed it to ourselves and to each other after all the hard work we’ve done.
“It was important that we put that training into a game and get the win when the opportunity was there.
“It shows that we are capable and we’re going to be competitive.”
Didier said the Roos still had improvement to make as well with shooters Hughes and Lisa Davey’s accuracy rate both less than 60 per cent.
“They were great though, Lisa shot really, really well in third quarter, she popped in a few long ones which really helped,” Didier said.
“Any time you get to 40 goals you’re going to go a long way to have a competitive score and we were just one off.”
Goal defence Simon Hanrahan was again among the Roos best as well as young sisters Ruby and Cath Svarc on the wings and Didier in the middle.
Millie Whitehead and Lauren O’Shea were best for the Panthers.
The Roos meet last year’s runner-up Wangaratta Rovers next week in what is shaping as another big test at John Foord Oval.
“We’ll have a bit of a celebratory training on Tuesday and then we’ll be straight back into it,” Didier said.
“They’re one of the teams to beat and it will a tough game.”
Meanwhile, Yarrawonga has prevailed in the blockbuster game against North Albury at Bunton Park.
The Pigeons skipped away to a five goal lead at the first break and went on to win 49-35 although the margin did not reflect the tightness of the encounter.
Kylie Tyrell and Suzanne Willett were in form for the Pigeons while Stephanie Tyrell was dangerous under the net, shooting 34.
In the other games, Wangaratta Rovers beat Wodonga Raiders by 12 goals, Albury shut down Wangaratta in a 37-26 win and Wodonga Bulldogs defeated Myrtleford by six goals.
