A sea of vibrant guernseys, streamers, and echoing cheers has inundated Lavington Sports Ground as supporters gathered to watch their teams clash in the highly anticipated Ovens and Murray grand final on Sunday, September 24.
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The main football game between the Yarrawonga Pigeons and the Albury Tigers kicked off at 2.30pm, with 10,156 supporters turning up to support their teams.
Pigeons fan Ross Duncan said both teams had "some bloody good players".
"But win or lose, for a small town like us to get up and make it to the grand final, it's a feather in our cap as far as I'm concerned," he said.
In the Tigers' camp, devoted fan Dalise Scholz had placed her faith in star player Riley Bice to shine.
"It's fantastic to see them in the grand final," she said.
"I've been away for three months, and this is my first game of footy for the season."
Brenda Hilton, donning a full tiger costume and face paint, travelled from Melbourne on Sunday morning to watch her favourite player, Anthony Miles, in action.
"I promised Anthony Miles I'd come up if they made the grand final," she said.
"I barrack for Richmond and have followed his career, so I've driven up all the way from Cranbourne this morning for the game.
"I'll just be pretending I'm watching the 2020 grand final where we (Richmond) beat Geelong."
In the commentary box, AFL broadcasters Ben Cameron and Corbin Middlemas from ABC Radio were calling their inaugural Ovens and Murray grand final.
"We haven't done a country grand final in a few years, so we thought we'd come and check out this league, which has such a rich history," Middlemas said.
"I've got a family friend who's involved with the Myrtleford footy club, so we discussed coming to the Ovens and Murray grand final for years, and this turned out to be the year to do it."
Middllemas said he had been busy trying to learn as many names as possible leading up to the game.
"We spent a bit of time on Thursday trying to remember as many names as we can ... but we'll probably be focusing on a few of the former AFL boys, I think," he said.
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Cameron marvelled at the quality of football displayed in the third-grade grand final between Lavington and Wangaratta Rovers.
"I watched the final quarter of the thirds, and it was an awesome finish," he said.
"The Rovers came storming home; I saw three goals from outside 50 metres, and there were plenty of good finishes.
"So I'm pretty excited, it's a great venue and I'm looking forward to see what happens in the main event."
ALL THE OVENS AND MURRAY ACTION:
- Pigeons are PREMIERS after beating Tigers in classic grand final
- PANTHERS POUNCE: Club celebrates premiership 10 years in the making
- Raiders rejoice as netballers produce two premiership performances
- Bulldogs make league history as under-15s shine on grand final day
- Gallery: Electric atmosphere engulfs the crowd at grand final
- Former AFL player shines on the big stage to claim Did Simpson medal
- Work to dictate whether Jack's back as a Wodonga Bulldog
- In February, Nick Irvine had 30cms of his intestine removed
- Pigeons were pipped in last year's decider, this time they edge out Tigers
- One very clear message came out of the Albury camp post-match
- Former AFL great delivers Pigeons the Holy Grail in his first season in charge
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