Upper Murray: Cudgewa wins first flag since 2015 with 94-point win

Cudgewa put the exclamation mark on an undefeated Upper Murray season with a crushing 94-point win against Bullioh in the grand final on Saturday.

Cudgewa put the exclamation mark on a dominant season in the Upper Murray by sweeping to its first premiership since 2015 with a crushing 94-point win against Bullioh in the grand final on Saturday.

The Blues, who finished runner-up last year, finished the home and away season undefeated and two weeks ago won the second semi-final against reigning premiers Tumbarumba by 111 points.

The premiership was particularly satisfying for Cudgewa full-forward Adam Prior, who had not played in a winning grand final team in a career that included a brief stint with the Sydney Swans in the mid-2000s.

Upper Murray premiers Cudgewa. Picture: Wendy Lavis

He played in his first losing grand final with his original club North Albury in 2004 and then another one with the club in 2007.

Prior then played in two more losing Ovens and Murray league grand finals with Lavington in 2015-16 before heading bush and initially playing with Culcairn in the Hume league.

In his first season with Cudgewa, Prior finished the season with 71 goals including a bag of seven in the grand final.

He has the distinction of being the leading goalkicker in the O&M, Hume and Upper Murray leagues.

But Cudgewa’s grand final romp wasn’t without its share of dramas with defender Josh Lieschke red-carded before halftime and brother Craig yellow-carded in the third term.

Cudgewa coach Drew Cameron. Picture: Wendy Lavis

It left Cudgewa with only 14 players on the ground for 15 minutes with the Upper Murray having 16-a-side teams.

Josh Bartel won the medal for best on ground with his game highlighted by a booming 60m-plus goal in the third term.

Cudgewa was coached by Drew Cameron, who booted four goals in the grand final to take his season tally to 56.