Euroa ends Mooroopna’s season with seven-goal final-term blitz

By Aydin Payne

Sep 3, 2023

A rampaging seven-goal last term was enough for Euroa to grind out a gritty 36-point win over Mooroopna in Sunday’s Goulburn Valley League elimination final.

The Magpies, led by brothers and star talents Will and JD Hayes, rubbed out an eight-point three-quarter time deficit to completely overrun Mooroopna.

It was a stalemate and heavily-contested game at Moon Oval, one where both outfits grabbed momentum in their favour over the course of the three quarters.

But it was Euroa, that kicked 0.7 in the third term, that broke the shackles in an emphatic final 20 minutes of football to run out a 14.13 (97) to 9.7 (61) victor.

Potent forward Jett Trotter booted three of his four goals in the final term blitz, while Nathan Stewart capped a strong outing with a goal after-the-siren to send the Magpies into this weekend’s do-or-die semi-final against arch-rival Seymour.

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Under pressure: Euroa's Max Gleeson fires off a handball. Photo by Aydin Payne

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Prime mover: Mooroopna's Bryce Rutherford was a standout for the Cats. Photo by Aydin Payne

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Head over the ball: Mooroopna's Kydan Atkinson. Photo by Aydin Payne

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Get around him: Mooroopna's Ben Hicks celebrates a crucial goal after the half-time siren. Photo by Aydin Payne

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Sliding through: Euroa's Tristan Davies. Photo by Aydin Payne

“Relief is not even the right word,” Euroa coach Scott Rowan said post-match.

“The ball got stuck in the forward 50 for five or six minutes and we weren’t scoring and I thought ‘yep, I’m done, my coaching career is done’.

“We snuck a goal and went back to the centre and we didn’t look back after that. I’m very pleased with the boys’ efforts.

“That third quarter, we were still in the game, but we weren’t taking our opportunities. I felt like if we had taken a couple we would have gone in with a decent lead.

“It was a real grind; a real push and shove and it was a real fight to the end. It was gonna break at some stage I’m glad we were on the right end.”

Mooroopna defender Isaac Dowling was rock solid and his ability to intercept stood out, while on-baller Bryce Rutherford battled hard all game.

Big man and star forward Jackson Trengove tried his hardest to win the game off his own boot with four majors.