Country footy: Wangaratta, Pyramid Hill and Shepparton East unbeaten at halfway mark of season

The country footy season is at the halfway mark. Find out who the undefeated teams are and what their coaches are saying.

David Johnston

3 min read

June 14, 2022 - 8:52AM

The Weekly Times

Country footy wrap: Inside Wangaratta's win

Wangaratta Magpies coach Ben Reid wants his players to “embrace” the pressure of being the team to beat for the premiership this season.

The Ovens and Murray league pacesetter is one of more than 20 teams across Victoria that haven’t dropped a match at the halfway mark of the season.

The Magpies, who lost the 2018 and 2019 grand finals to Albury and Lavington before Covid wiped out the last two years, kept their unbeaten record intact on Saturday with a gritty 14-point win against arch rival Wangaratta Rovers.

Wangaratta Magpies coach Ben Reid and his players after their win against Wangaratta Rovers. Picture: David Johnston

Earlier this season the Magpies beat the Rovers by more than 100 points, but the result was a lot closer this time around with the Magpies suffering a number of injuries.

Reid was out due to a quad injury, key defender Dylan Van Berlo went down before quarter time with a hamstring injury and interleague star Joe Richards was tagged out of the match by Rovers player Todd Bryant.

“Undefeated is always a nice spot to be, but at the same time we’ve got a lot of things to work on,” Reid said.

“When you get a name to be a good side there is pressure every week.

“We’ll have the pressure, but at the same time you want to embrace that pressure.”

.â¦@WangMagpiesâ© on a high at half way mark of â¦@omfnlâ© season. But coach Ben Reid said challenges would keep coming. Next up â¦@YFNC_Pigeonsâ© â¦@theweeklytimesâ© â¦@ctryfootyscoresâ© pic.twitter.com/E63ADH6Sh5
— David Johnston (@david_johnston5) June 11, 2022

Rovers coach Daryn Cresswell, who has coached in the competition since the late 2010s, said Wangaratta was “definitely” the team to beat for the flag.

“Wangaratta (Magpies), in my time in the Ovens and Murray, would be up there with Albury as one of the best teams I’ve come up against,” he said.

“They move well, they’re in sync.”

Meanwhile, Pyramid Hill hasn’t won a flag in the Loddon Valley since joining the competition more than 20 years ago and is on top heading into the back end of the season.

Coach Nathan Fitzpatrick said the club entered the season expecting to do well after losing the 2019 grand final.

But two narrow wins against Marong and Mitiamo meant a premiership was far from a certainty.

“We knew we had a squad that was going to be around the mark,” Fitzpatrick said.

“We’ve had a couple of close ones that have fallen our way which has been good.”

Fitzpatrick said a focus on bringing back players originally from Pyramid Hill had paid dividends with one of them being Steve Gunther returning from Geelong league club St Albans.

“He has taken his game to a new level since being down in Geelong and has come back and been brilliant for us,” he said.

Avenel coach Kasey Duncan, The Swans play the other undefeated team in the Kyabram and District league this season, Shepparton East, on Saturday. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

The Kyabram and District league has two undefeated clubs, Shepparton East and Avenel, and they meet on Saturday.

East has charged up the ladder under new coach Rob Osborne, who previously played with the club.

It has topped up with Adam Fichera, Tom McCluskey, Matthew Rendina, Adem Barolli and Tom Campbell recruited from Goulburn Valley league clubs Shepparton United and Shepparton Swans.

“We are eight zip, but I would have been happy to be 6-2,” Osborne said.

“We’ve done well to be undefeated.

“We’ve added 10 players to the list, but in saying that seven have played at Shep East before and are all one pointers.

“Avenel is still the benchmark, they were pretty good last year.”

Echuca would have joined the list of unbeaten teams if not for being stripped of its first round win against Rochester for playing ineligible player.