Nyora delivers a thrilling showdown

ALTHOUGH the scores did not tilt in favour of Nyora, fans could agree an excellent game of footy was dished up at the Nyora Recreation Reserve on Saturday.

The Seniors were up and about with the presence of past players, including the reunion of the 2006 premiership team.

Spurred on by the electric atmosphere, the Seniors took to the ground and delivered a thrilling first quarter, which saw the scores all tied up at 39 points at the first siren.

Bunyip got the jump on Nyora and kicked the first three goals of the game.

Bunyip was beating Nyora out of the middle early and concern began to rise from the coaching panel.

However, Nyora soon adapted and the game was on.

Nyora started winning the ball and kicked six goals in the last half of the first quarter to match Bunyip.

Travis Stewart kicked the first goal for Nyora 17 minutes in, and in an unforgettable performance, a floodgate was opened with goals to Paul Delaroche, Xavier Huet and Kyle Bird.

“It was a huge improvement. Up until this point, we hadn’t kicked six goals in a quarter,” Nyora coach Brendan Cornwall said.

“We had a bit of trouble stopping them from scoring, but I think both teams were played real attacking footy, which was good to see. Both coaches were on the attack rather than defensive.”

Bunyip managed to pull away from Nyora during the second quarter, putting on four goals to Nyora’s one.

With an undermanned midfield rotation, Nyora was battling to get the ball to go its way and weren’t efficient enough with it.

Nyora went into the long break 20 points down.

The past players descended into the rooms at halftime and lifted the boys’ spirits, which was highly noticeable once they returned to the field.

“I think the boys fed off the energy of the premiership players and didn’t want to let them down. The third quarter was an unbelievable quarter of footy,” Cornwall said.

Liam Simpson kicked a goal for Nyora within two minutes of the third term, and the crowd really got behind them.

The energy began to shift, and Nyora started winning the ball through the middle again.

“We had a good run where we were dominating the stoppages and clearances, and then we were able to turn that into scores,” Cornwall said.

“It was really like free flowing footy. It was a little bit like Russian Roulette in the way that whoever won the ball stoppage was probably going to score. Both teams tried to defend, but the midfielders were using the ball well and hitting the targets.

It was a tough day for defenders.”

Nyora got itself on a roll and kicked a whopping eight goals for the quarter.

“An eight-goal quarter after you were 20 points down at halftime - you can’t ask for a better response,” Cornwall said.

The last quarter was an arm wrestle.

A couple of things didn’t go in favour of Nyora, and a six-point loss was met with some disappointment.

“The disappointment was there for 20 minutes or so, but upon reflection, I think everyone involved would just be happy with the game they saw.

“I was impressed with the opposition and appreciated that neither coach went defensive. When we had the lead in the last quarter, we kept trying to kick goals, and they did the same when they had the lead. Both teams had their opportunities, and I think the game was played the right way. If you were a neutral footy fan rolling up to watch a local game, you’d go a long way to see a better match up.”

For Nyora, Stewart was a standout player across the board.

From kicking goals to taking great marks around the ground and getting the crowd going, Stewart was impressive in a game full of highlights.

“There were a lot of big hangers taken. Even the opposition took some great contested marks,” Cornwall said.

“There were some great goals kicked from the boundary. Dylan Heylen kicked a banana from the boundary that got the whole joint rocking. It was one of those games where we would kick a couple of brilliant goals, and they would go down the other end and bang one from 50 out. Both forward lines were on.”

Nyora is set to play Catani away this Saturday.

Catani is coming off a strong win against Nilma Darnum, but Nyora is looking to deliver a similar performance to this week and give them a run.