Macedon and Kyneton rivalry begins with first official RDFNL meeting

It didn’t take Kyneton and Macedon long to spark its rivalry in the first official RDFNL meeting with the Cats claiming the first bragging rights.

Brodie Hoyne in action for Macedon. Picture: Josh Chadwick

It might have been their first official match but the rivalry between Kyneton and Macedon is already real.

The Tigers and Cats played out a tight, tough encounter at Kyneton Showgrounds with Macedon coming away with a 15-point victory on Saturday, 8.6 (54) to 5.9 (39).

The two towns are separated by just 25km and a healthy crowd enjoyed the sunshine and an absorbing maiden Riddell District clash.

“Kyneton will find this with a lot of teams in the league,” Macedon coach Al Meldrum said.

“A lot of players know each other, went to school with each other, and two of our senior leaders in Hamish Govan and Toby Sims played at Kyneton and live in Kyneton.

Jason Cooke kicked three goals for Macedon. Picture: Josh Chadwick

“There was a bit of byplay with the crowd, especially for Hammer (Govan) because he’s a former captain, so the crowd was into it.

“They’re going to enjoy a lot of local rivalries because in the Bendigo league the only one was really Gisborne and that’s only twice a year.”

In an intense first quarter, neither side could find a goal, each kicking 0.3.

It was Macedon who adjusted best in the second quarter, making the most of their opportunities – 5.2 to 1.5 – to kick out to a 21-point lead.

The game was up for grabs at the final change, the margin was back to 16 points.

It was the Cats who kicked the first goal through skipper Jason Cooke before Kyneton charged to within nine points but Matt Dick put the game to bed with a classy finish from outside 50m.

After facing a number of premiership contenders in the opening rounds, Meldrum said it was good reward for his players.

“It was good to get some reward for effort because we’ve been good value for the first month without necessarily getting wins,” he said.

“We’ve played the top four from last season in our first four games, we got the win over Woodend but that two to four goal margin short of the other teams, which is a vast improvement on last year.

“It was really good to go to a place, which historically at any level is hard to go and win, it wasn’t the prettiest game of footy but a gritty win in the end.

“The first quarter was a tough watch … (but) the second was good, we started to get our ball movement going and got some real reward on the scoreboard.

“Our prime-movers got going, Jason Cooke was causing a few headaches forward of the footy and our backline was good all day – underpinned by a couple of young blokes.

“We’ve played eight under-19s in the seniors so that’s really promising for us.”

Dick was named best-on-ground in the win, while youngsters Lachie Hay and Joseph Barham and Zach Smedley were impressive.

Cooke finished with three goals to take his tally to 11 in four outings.

Meldrum was particularly happy with his young stars.

“Lachie and Joey are both 17-year-olds and I reckon Lachie still has a breakout game in front of him but this was pretty close,” he said.

“He found a lot of the ball and sees things on the field that others don’t and can find players that make you think ‘wow, how did he see that’.

“Joe, we gave him a job on another young player, Angus Nolte who won the under-19 inter-league medal, and he did a fantastic job.

“It’s great to have a couple of our young players step up in a crunch game like that and perform well.”

For Kyneton, Ethan Turner was best afield, while Caleb Fisher, James Gaff and Brady Muir (two goals) stood tall.

The Tigers will look to bounce back on the road against Melton Centrals, while Macedon is back at home to tackle winless Lancefield.

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Sitting sixth, behind Kyneton on percentage, Meldrum was confident his team could push for a finals return.

“Teams like ourselves, Kyneton and Romsey are going to be crunch games each time – Romsey beat Kyneton and we’ve gone over there and beaten them,” he said.

“These are the game you want to bank and we want to consolidate that, we’ve got Lancefield back at home, and double down on the stuff we’ve been doing well.”

Meanwhile, Wallan was too good for Woodend-Hesket by 58 points, Romsey demolished Lancefield by 73 points and Riddell took care of Melton Centrals by 62 points.