By JARROD POTTER
AFL UNDER-18 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – ROUND 1
COMING down to the wire, Vic Country snuffed out Vic Metro’s winning chances in a five-point thriller at Simonds Stadium.
Kicking off the Under-18 National Championships in fittingly, aggressive style, not much split the metro and country combatants until the final few seconds.
In the last moments, Dandenong defender Jacob Weitering roosted the ball long to an amassed forward-pack.
It spilled out to the crumbers and coming out of the chaos was Gippsland’s Ben Ainsworth – who hit Jye Simpkin lace out as the siren sounded.
Simpkin went back and slotted the match winner to give Vic Country the early bragging rights in the under-18 championships.
The highly-touted Vic Country brigade traded blows with their metro counterparts in a back-and-forth spectacular.
Ainsworth, Josh Schache and Berry all accrued a pair of goals while Weitering and his Dandenong Stingrays teammate Bailey Rice excelled in defensive posts. Returning for a second Vic Country campaign, Stingray Gach Nyuon battled manfully in the ruck against Calder’s man-mountain Mark Kovacevic.
Vic Country’s championship campaign continues on Sunday as the region’s best take on Western Australia at Medibank Stadium from noon.
The Vic Country squad will be cut from 54 to the final 40 this week.
VIC METRO 3.3 5.5 8.6 10.8 (68)
VIC COUNTRY 2.2 6.5 9.7 11.7 (73)
VIC COUNTRY GOALS: Ainsworth 2, Schache 2, Berry 2, Maishman, Cole, Holmes, Simpkin, Skinner. BEST: Ainsworth, Weitering, Mennen, Mathieson, Rice, Schache. VIC METRO GOALS: Gresham 2, Hardwick 2, Kerbatieh, Balic, Houston, Crocker, Parsons, Silvagni. BEST: Balic, Crocker, Collins, O’Kearney, Parsons, Gresham.
