Albury topples Yarrawonga by five points in Ovens and Murray thriller

The Tigers led by 41 points late in the third quarter, but then only landed a point as the visitors peeled off 5.7 to fall 13.10 (88) to 12.11 (83) on Saturday.

While there was no rain and the second half was played in relative sunshine, the conditions were slippery as the pair produced a crackerjack clash.

"It was a game of momentum, but they played better over the whole four quarters, they're a great club," Yarrawonga coach Mark Whiley offered sportingly.

When Albury defender Jessy Wilson floated forward to land a goal after 21 minutes of the third, the match looked over, but the Pigeons landed three in five minutes to cut the margin to 20 points.

Leigh Williams (four goals) showed why he's the in-form forward in a red-hot field by landing a 50m bomb from the boundary.after two minutes of the final term.

Yarrawonga was coming as ex-Carlton forward Michael Gibbons imposed himself after 12 months out with hamstring and calf injuries.

Willie Wheeler snapped a 15m left footer to reduce the deficit to seven points with 12 minutes left.

Another ex-Carlton forward in Jeff Garlett kicked what proved the Tigers' only point in the last 35 minutes of the game, before the Pigeons' Nick Fothergill (eight minutes left), Tim Lawrence (three minutes) and Gibbons (27 seconds) missed gettable chances from 40m, 35m and 45m respectively.

"It was the ability to fight, they had momentum and we were able to wrestle that back, probably not on the scoreboard by kicking goals, but by bottling it up," Albury co-coach Luke Daly revealed.

It's been the year of the final quarter fightback wins with Yarrawonga falling to Wangaratta Rovers (38 points) and Myrtleford toppling Wodonga (25), but the Tigers showed it's possible to hold off an opponent with momentum.

And the Pigeons also had the early initiative with Williams kicking two in five minutes against Lucas Conlan, while Gibbons booted his first for a 16-point buffer after 12 minutes.

"I thought our defenders were a little loose early and we got caught off guard," Daly admitted.

From there, Albury controlled the play until late and while it didn't do anything different tactically, it did what the club's been doing for years.

"They out-Albury'd us, they went down the middle and we turned it over on the inside," Whiley reasoned.

Yarrawonga couldn't handle Jacob Conlan, who snared four goals and an equal game-high eight marks which was excellent given he was put him behind the ball late.

After a tough start, brother Lucas Conlan largely shut down Williams, fellow defenders Wilson and Brydan Hodgson were terrific. while Fletcher Carroll was the leading possession winner (36).

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Whiley was strong, while Leigh Masters and Logan Morey took intercept marks.

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