Albury City has kept in touch with the AWFA leaders with a less than pretty 3-2 win over Wodonga Diamonds at Jelbart Park on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The home side trailed on two occasions before fighting back with two goals after half-time to take maximum points.
Tylar Young netted a brace in reply to goals from Diamonds’ Martin Miranda and Dylan Nhansana, before super sub Dan Kelly found the match winner in the 79th minute.
City coach Matthew Maw said while it wasn’t the best spectacle, he was pleased with the end result.
“Today was crucial to hold onto the win, it’s tough this year, anyone can take points off anyone I believe,” Maw said.
“Tylar (Young) played extremely well up front today and scored a cracking goal in there, but obviously when we brought Dan (Kelly) at at the end it worked really well.
“I think the change impacted it and we went for it at the end and put four up top, which paid off.
“We were trying to force it rather than knock the ball around, but we just haven’t been used to playing in the wet weather this year, we’ve only had one game in the rain so far.”
Maw’s men have been around the mark all season, with a number of close results going against them in the first 10 weeks, coupled with some strong displays against the league’s best.
“We’ve drawn with Myrtleford and Twin City, we beat Cobram and we’ve pushed everyone else all the way,” he said.
“We’ve also got players coming back, we’ve had Dan (Kelly) out for five weeks, we’ve Indra (Ggai) out for five and we’ve got players coming back to the club, so I think we can push on in the second half of the season.”
Diamonds coach James Dexter was pleased with his side’s output, considering the horror run it has had with injury and suspension.
The visitors didn’t escape this clash unscathed either, with Jake Thompson suffering a knee injury, while Zach Page dislocated his collarbone early in the second half.
“We’ve had two knee reconstructions and a broken ankle, so we just can’t take a trick,” Dexter said.
“We’ve given a few of the top teams a bit of a run, but injuries and suspensions have really hurt us.
“We had three or four under 16s kids in there that backed up from the morning, which is a good effort.
“We had a young team last year and we’re a bit further ahead of where we were last year.”
Cobram handed Wangaratta its third straight loss with a 3-2 victory at home.
Myrtleford held out a spirited Boomers outfit 2-1.
Albury United jumped to the top of the table with a 7-0 drubbing of Wodonga Heart.
Albury Hotspurs caused a major upset with a 3-0 win over Melrose, while Twin City Wanders came away with a 5-1 victory over St Pats.
The ladder after round 10 is: Albury United 22, Myrtleford 22, Cobram Roar 20, Wangaratta 19, Boomers 18, Twin City Wanderers 18, Melrose 18, Albury City 14, Albury Hotspurs 10, Wodonga Diamonds 9, St Pats 3, Wodonga Heart 0.