North Albury hangs onto lead to defeat Albury on ANZAC Day

Scores were level at the half-time break, with the visitors stepping it up a notch in the second half.

For young Hopper Sophia Kohlhagen, it marked her first Ovens and Murray League ANZAC Day experience.

"It's great to play and to remember the Anzacs," she said.

"We had a good chat before the game and got into it."

Kohlhagan and Nat Heagney led the charge for the Hoppers in goals and were served well by playing coach Emily Browne in the midcourt.

The former Giant said she's enjoying the change from the Hume League this season.

"It's challenging, but I'm learning heaps from the North girls," Kohlhagen said.

"It's good to test myself.

"Nat and I are starting to work a lot better and are gelling together.

"We're building a good connection."

Albury playing coach Skye Hillier returned for her first full game this season, 12 weeks after giving birth to her first child.

"I felt really good, I've done the work to get back so I'll see how I recover," Hillier said.

"We were at full strength in defence and I thought our defensive pressure was really good, but we just weren't able to capitalise on what our defenders gave us."

Sarah Mellington ran out a full game in the midcourt for the Tigers after returning from a double header with the Albury-Wodonga Bandits in the NBL1 East competition, capping off a huge long weekend of sport.

"She's a bit of a machine," Hillier said.

"We'll miss her in a couple of games with her commitments with the Bandits, but it's awesome having her.

"I can put her in attack or defence."

Former Jindera and Thurgoona netballer Sharla Sutcliffe made her first appearance in A-grade for the Tigers, lining up in goals alongside Hillier.

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"She held her own and played really well," Hillier said.

The Tigers have battled player unavailability during the first few rounds of the season, but it has opened up more opportunities for some of the club's up-and-coming talent.

"We just have to keep juggling," Hillier said.

"We have really good depth."

It's the second consecutive close match the Hoppers have won after hanging on to account for the Saints last round.

In other Ovens and Murray League netball matches played out on Saturday, Yarrawonga defeated Myrtleford, Lavington was too strong for Wangaratta Rovers and Corowa-Rutherglen downed Wangaratta Magpies.

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