MNFNC Round One

MIRBOO North met its first challenge of season 2025 with an inspiring 36-point victory over Hill End, at picturesque Willow Grove on Saturday.

With no flags flying from a vast collection of flagpoles, it was hard to decipher in which direction the ever-so-gentle breeze was blowing.

Could this, perhaps, have been a ploy by newly appointed Hill End coach Adrian Burns?

Mirboo North wore black armbands in memory of John Mercer, its former player and junior coach, following his passing early last month.

The mighty Tigers opened brightly and looked the goods early, with three unanswered goals on the board after 18 minutes of play.

Skipper Hudson Kerr, Jesse Chila and rover Harry Mahoney repeatedly drove Mirboo North forward, whilst Beau Peters was impassable in defence for the Tigers.

A couple of second-term majors by the home side and another from Kerr saw Mirboo North taking a 13-point advantage into the long break.

The third quarter began well for the Hillmen, courtesy of a lovely high mark by Seth Conway in the goal square that reduced Hill End's deficit to seven points.

A minute later. Riley Oddy's clever dribble kick restored Mirboo North's lead to 13 points, before Nic James slammed through Hill End's fifth major.

With the Hillmen gaining momentum and their supporters cheering loudly. there were fears Mirboo North might be experiencing a Carlton-like second-half fadeout.

However, any concerns were quickly averted, when the Tigers converted three set shots in three blistering minutes of frenetic football.

First came Josh Taylor's long bomb from just outside 50 and the other two were delivered by 16-year old first senior gamer, Clancy Snell, after strong marks from perfect passes.

Suddenly, Mirboo North was 27 points in front and the Hillmen had gone from looking for a teammate to searching for a lifeline.

Hill End began the last term with a major from Bailey Paul, but after that, there was no more scoring by the Hillmen.

The Tigers tails were up and most of the action was in their forward half with two closing goals coming from Oddy, that lifted his tally to three for the afternoon.

Best performers for Hill End included Calway with two goals, Liam Cumiskey, Harry Moore and Jesse Burns. 

Mirboo North heads to Boolarra this Saturday to tackle the Demons, who are coming off an exciting three-point home win over Stony Creek.