Sport

Emus can’t tame high-flying Lions

By Contributed

Jun 20, 2023

The Echuca Masters Emus made a long-awaited return to the hallowed turf of Victoria Park last Saturday, taking on the Sunbury Lions who have been in red-hot form.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

It was a tightly contested match from the outset as Sunbury kicked with a solid breeze in the first quarter.

The Emus worked hard to get a score on the board early through Scott Carson and Kelvin Nye, with Damien Hammond also providing a target up forward.

Sandy Lawrence and Drew Elliot worked hard through the midfield to give the Emus forward entries, while regular hard-nut Brad Colliver was missing for all four quarters.

Sunbury was able to take advantage of the wind and get a couple of goals late in the quarter to give it a slight lead at the first break.

In the second term, the Emus had the majority of the play and were able to lock the ball in the forward line thanks to intense pressure from small forwards Aaron Prewett and Craig Danswan.

Defender-turned-forward Ollie Oranje put in his nomination for goal of the day with a mark and barrel from outside 50m, but despite the Emus winning the territory battle, Sunbury still had its nose in front on the scoreboard at the main break.

The arm wrestle continued in the third quarter with the dual ruck combination of Justin Voss and Duane Kelly giving the Emus first use of the ball and bringing playmakers Josh Hunter, Troy Arlow and Gary Davis into the game.

The contest was fierce but neither side was able to break the game open and at three-quarter time Sunbury led by one goal.

Sunbury put its foot on the gas at the start of the last quarter with two quick goals taking its lead out to a game-high 18 points.

Phil Arnott answered back for the Emus with two marks and goals to close the gap to six points.

Despite playing out the game with solid endeavour, the Emus could not claw their way over the lions and went down 7.6 (48) to Sunbury’s 8.6 (54).

Sandy Lawrence was a bull in the midfield all game, Lucas Walker added his usual class to the side and birthday boy Mark Van Poeteren led in style as captain for the game.

Next on the Masters’ calendar is a mini-carnival in Bendigo on June 26 with some Emus featuring, while the next home-and-away fixture is a road trip to chilly Woodend on July 16.