Vic Country defeated Vic Metro at the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships for the first time since 2015 with a 13-point triumph at the MCG on Saturday.

Head coach Leigh Brown’s Country team was relentless in pressuring the opposition throughout an intense contest, regularly winning the ball back in dangerous positions and dominating the territory battle against Metro coach Brett Allison’s side.

Country conceded three of the game’s first four goals but applied the clamps to Metro from late in the first quarter. Dandenong Stingrays captain Hayden Young was the architect for Country behind the ball, with his laser-like boot and the daring dash of Murray Bushrangers skipper Lachlan Ash crucial in starting a host of scoring chains.

Ash’s fellow Country captain Caleb Serong (Gippsland Power) was an important driver from stoppages, while key targets Josh Smith (Gippsland Power) and Charlie Comben (Gippsland Power) as well as crafty mobile forwards Sam Flanders (Gippsland Power) and Ned Cahill (Dandenong Stingrays) proved a handful for Metro defenders inside 50.

Metro threatened to turn the tables early in the third quarter as Oakleigh Chargers pair Noah Anderson and Matthew Rowell asserted their authority on the contest, and while Fischer McAsey (Sandringham Dragons) and Brodie Newman (Calder Cannons) stood tall in defence, the balance of play eventually tipped towards Country again.

The win was not only Country’s first in four years against Metro, but it was the team’s first since Round 1 of the 2017 Championships following seven straight losses across the last two carnivals.

Country next faces the Allies at University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston on Sunday June 9 from 12.30pm, while Metro travels to meet Western Australia at Lathlain Park in Perth next Saturday from 10am.

 

 

VIC COUNTRY   3.1   5.4   6.9   9.10 (64)

VIC METRO   3.2   3.4   5.6   7.9 (51)

 

Goals

Vic Country: J. Smith (Gippsland) 3, N. Cahill (Dandenong) 2, C. Comben (Gippsland), E. Hollands (Murray), S. Flanders (Gippsland), M. Martin (GWV)

Vic Metro: J. Honey (Western), H. Jones (Calder), D. Cassar (Western), F. McAsey (Sandringham), M. Rowell (Oakleigh), F. Maginness (Sandringham), H. Ralphsmith (Sandringham)

 

Key stats-getters

Vic Country:

  • H. Young (Dandenong) - 29 disposals, seven marks, seven rebound-50s
  • C. Serong (Gippsland) - 22 disposals, seven tackles, five clearances
  • L. Ash (Murray) - 21 disposals, five marks
  • S. Flanders (Gippsland) - 21 disposals, nine tackles, five inside-50s
  • J. Rantall (GWV) - 21 disposals
  • R. Sparkes (Gippsland) - 20 disposals
  • R. Baldi (Gippsland) - 19 disposals, six marks
  • T. Dow (Bendigo) - 18 disposals, four clearances
  • B. Kemp (Bendigo) - 16 disposals, six rebound-50s
  • N. Cahill (Dandenong) - 16 disposals, six marks
  • E. Hollands (Murray) - 15 disposals, seven tackles, five inside-50s
  • C. Comben (Gippsland) - eight disposals, 13 hitouts, five tackles

 

Vic Metro:

  • M. Rowell (Oakleigh) - 28 disposals, eight marks, five tackles
  • N. Anderson (Oakleigh) - 25 disposals, eight tackles, five clearances
  • L. Butler (Sandringham) - 23 disposals, seven rebound-50s
  • B. Newman (Calder) - 19 disposals, six marks, four rebound-50s
  • D. Cassar (Western) - 16 disposals, three inside-50s
  • F. McAsey (Sandringham) - 15 disposals, seven marks
  • F. Maginness (Sandringham) - 15 disposals, nine tackles, five clearances
  • L. Potter (Northern) - 15 disposals, five rebound-50s
  • T. Bianco (Oakleigh) - 14 disposals, four rebound-50s
  • N. Bryan (Oakleigh) - eight disposals, 19 hitouts