Ovens and Murray 2023 grand final coverage from Lavington Sports Ground

Yarrawonga are celebrating their first premiership for a decade after taking down Albury in one of the Ovens and Murray's greatest ever grand finals.

The Pigeons won an absolute classic by four points in front of more than 10,000 packed into Lavington Sports Ground.

A year on from their narrow loss to Wangaratta in the 2022 decider, this was redemption for Yarrawonga, while the Tigers will have to wait at least another year to get back to the top of the tree.

The footy was predictably red-hot early in the match but Albury began to spend some time in their forward half and were rewarded with the opening goal of the game.

Brydan Hodgson played a clever one-two, giving the handball to Tom O'Brien and collecting the return before lacing his shot through.

But the Pigeons came up with a quick riposte courtesy of Brayden Coburn, who made no mistake from directly in front after the umpire paid a free-kick for front-on contact

The footy was predictably red-hot early in the match but Albury began to spend some time in their forward half and were rewarded with the opening goal of the game.

Brydan Hodgson played a clever one-two, giving the handball to Tom O'Brien and collecting the return before lacing his shot through.

But the Pigeons came up with a quick riposte courtesy of Brayden Coburn, who made no mistake from directly in front after the umpire paid a free-kick for front-on contact.

The Pigeons hit the front when Leigh Williams picked out Dylan Conway on a 45-degree angle, 20 metres out, although their lead was short-lived as Albury hit straight back with a quality finish from Morris medallist Elliott Powell.

Yarrawonga capitalised on a turnover when Conway marked the ball just outside 50 and, seeing no-one in the goal square, sent his kick bouncing through.

Conway almost made it two goals in as many minutes, and three for the term, but his set shot from significantly closer drifted wide, before Michael Gibbons saw one float across the face after marking strongly in the pocket.

Williams thought he'd kicked a goal moments later but the umpires conferred and decided the ball had brushed the post on its way through.

Jeff Garlett missed a good chance at the start of the second quarter but the Pigeons were then punished for coughing the ball up in a dangerous area as Brayden O'Hara nailed a terrific goal on the run with his left boot.

The lead changed hands once again, Nick Fothergill slotting a free-kick on the angle and then making it a quickfire double when he crumbed in the goal square and knocked the ball through.

The Pigeons were on a roll, Williams marking from Cam Wilson's kick and going back to kick the goal for a 14-point lead.

It was proving difficult for Albury to break the shackles of Yarrawonga's pressure but when they did, O'Hara unloaded from distance and watched the long bomb sail through for a crucial goal.

The Tigers were still having to do plenty of defending but the Pigeons were unable to make their dominance tell on the scoreboard.

And Hodgson made them pay with two goals in as many minutes just before half-time to level the scores.

First, Hodgson finished off a flowing move featuring Rhys King, Michael Duncan and Connor O'Sullivan before dropping his shoulder, selling some candy and knocking through his third goal of the day to change the mood completely as the players headed into the rooms.

Whatever coach Steve Johnson said to the Pigeons at half-time clearly worked as they came out and kicked two goals in the first seven minutes after the restart.

Willie Wheeler and Harry Wheeler were the men to hit the scoreboard, putting the pressure back onto the Tigers to come up with some answers.

They started to get their hands on the footy and when O'Brien came streaming through midfield, his pinpoint kick to Jacob Conlan was rewarded with an accurate shot to bring Albury back within a goal.

The scores were level again, in the 21st minute of the quarter, when Anthony Miles was taken late by Mark Whiley, who gave away a 50m penalty which Miles drilled straight through the middle.

Albury had all the momentum late in the third term and O'Hara tried his luck with another long bomb after a slick passage of play but this time his radar was slightly off.

Albury made a composed start to the fourth quarter and they extended their margin with a goal of the highest quality, Riley Bice firing up from 50 metres out on a 45-degree angle on the velodrome flank.

Suddenly the tackles felt even more ferocious and the pressure even hotter with the clock ticking down on the season and both teams' premierships dreams.

Fothergill missed a set shot for the Pigeons but Logan Morey had the Yarrawonga supporters on their feet when he marked just inside 50, played on and kicked a huge goal.

And the Pigeons erupted just a minute later when the ball was turned over and Bailey Frauenfelder hit the target to put Yarrawonga in front.

Johnson's men could smell blood now and Williams, having marked Gibbons' kick, unselfishly looked for Ryan Bruce in a vacant goal square and Bruce slotted the goal.

But the Tigers weren't done yet. Powell kicked deep inside 50, Connor O'Sullivan took a terrific mark and snapped the goal from an acute angle to get it back within five points.

Hodgson had a chance to put Albury in front late but his kick drifted just wide and Garlett then failed to make the distance from 50m.

The siren sparked wild celebrations from the large Yarrawonga contingent while the contrasting emotions on the field told you all you needed to know about a truly titanic tussle.

RESERVES: Albury 8.13 (61) def Lavington 4.6 (30)

Albury's nine-year wait for a reserve-grade premiership is over after they overcame Lavington by 31 points in Sunday's grand final.

After losing the 2016 and 2019 deciders, the Tigers took the final step by bringing down the minor premiers at Lavington Sports Ground.

Albury kept Lavington to four goals, while Harry Cameron, Rory Parnell and Zach Bye each kicked two for the new premiers.

It took until the 15th minute for either team to kick a goal, Charlie Sanson getting on the end of a beautiful Darcy Smith pass and making no mistake with his set shot.

Albury belatedly responded through Charlie McGrath, eight minutes into the second term, and their first goal quickly led to two more.

Cameron spun out of a tackle and slotted one before Parnell booted Albury's third to make it a 17-point lead.

With the game starting to open up, Lavington hit back when Smith threaded through his second from 40m out but the Tigers played much of the game in their forward half and had a measure of control by the halfway stage of the match.

Will Haberecht's side continued to apply the squeeze in the third term, kicking three goals to one to go to the final break up by 26 points.

Parnell and Bye slotted back-to-back majors for the Tigers and although Sanson kicked his second to keep the Panthers in the hunt, Cameron's second of the game left them facing an uphill battle.

Lavington needed to kick the next goal but they missed a number of good chances and were punished when Bye knocked one through at the 15-minute mark.

Kai Davies' late goal was no more than a consolation for the Panthers and Ben Kelly, who played 16 senior games for Albury this year, iced the game with a cool set shot in the last couple of minutes.

THIRDS: Lavington 8.10 (58) def Wangaratta Rovers 9.2 (56)

Lavington are celebrating their first under-18 premiership since 2009.

The Panthers won a thrilling Ovens and Murray grand final by just two points on Sunday morning after surviving a huge Wangaratta Rovers fightback late in the game.

Lavington captain Corby Robertson booted five goals and received the Brett Kirk Medal as best on ground.

Rovers kicked the first two goals of the game through Judd Schubert and Ned Turner but the Panthers came from behind to lead at the first break.

Robertson booted their first goal of the decider before Oscar Lyons knocked one through just seconds before the siren.

Robertson took a fantastic grab early in the second term and went back to kick the goal but Rovers responded well and hit the scoreboard themselves through Ryley Ely and Finn Osborne.

A see-saw contest swung back Lavington's way just before half-time thanks to a piece of Ryder Corrigan ingenuity when he manufactured a score off the ground in the goal square.

And the Panthers completely dominated the third quarter, kicking 4.4 to zero with Alex Swinnerton also splitting the big sticks in the midst of Robertson's goal blitz.

But Justin Lewis had the Rovers supporters up and about when he broke the scoring drought early in the final term, before Ely bent one through on the run to fire the crowd up even more.

The force was very much with the Hawks now and it really was game on when Osborne nailed his second goal of the grand final from just inside 50m.

Lavington, having looked so composed earlier in the game, were rushing their kicks and looking panicky as the Rovers rolled relentlessly forward.

The margin was slashed to seven points when Osborne booted a miracle goal from the boundary, his third of the game, making for some very nervous faces on the Panthers bench.

Osborne's unbelievable day got even better when he marked in front and threaded the set shot to drag Rovers back to within one point in the 20th minute of the quarter.

Ryan Corrigan missed a shot for Lavington at the other end but it mattered not as Kan Mansell's side held on in a dramatic finale.

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