It was our warmest VCL weekend so far this season, and the football on offer was just as hot as the weather.

Southern Bluetongues are now outright first in the Under 13 Boys (not taking into consideration technical and fair play points) after a convincing 5-1 win over Western Wolves. It was the Wolves’ first loss of the season, and they will be keen to bounce back next week when they play Gippsland Knights. Northern All Stars defeated Eastern FC in a 13 goal corker. After trailing 6-1 at half time, Eastern dramatically improved in the second half, the final score reading 9-4. A final minute goal saw South East Cougars salvage a deserved 1-1 draw against Central City, North West Wanderers were too good for Rivers FC, winning 8-0 and North East Diamonds edged Loddon Mallee Lightning 2-1.

North East Diamonds were pushed all the way in their narrow 1-0 win over Loddon Mallee in the Under 13 Girls, a first half goal enough to secure victory and maintain their spot on top of the table. Southern Bluetongues matched the emphatic score line of the boys, defeating Western Wolves 5-1. Northern All Stars ran over the top of Eastern in the second half, winning 5-2 after only leading 2-1 at half time. Rivers had a narrow 2-1 win over North West while Gippsland and Central City recorded their first competition points of the season, drawing 1-1 with Wimmera and 0-0 with South East respectively.

North West Wanderers dropped their first competition points in the Under 14 Boys competition after a gutsy performance by Rivers FC to come from behind and tie the game 2-2. North East Diamonds had a comfortable 5-1 win over Loddon Mallee, though the game seemed to be much closer than the score suggests. Wimmera South Coast produced a solid defensive effort in their 3-0 win over Gippsland, Northern All Stars defeated Eastern 3-2 and South East edged past Central 2-1.

South East Cougars continued their strong start in the Under 15 Girls competition with a convincing 5-0 victory over Central City. Northern All Stars had their first win of the season, and what a win it was, defeating Gippsland 5-0. The scores were locked 1-1 at half time in the match between North West and Rivers, and remained locked, this time at 3-3 when the final whistle blew. In other matches, Western Wolves put three past Southern Bluetongues to win 3-0, Wimmera South Coast defeated Gippsland 2-0 and Loddon Mallee overcame North East 4-2.

North West Wanderers secured their first win of the season win an impressive 5-0 win over Rivers FC in the Under 15 Boys. It was a case of Rivers failing to take their chances in front of goal while North West were clinical with theirs. South East Cougars prevailed 4-2 in a thoroughly entertaining, back-and-forth encounter, North East had a narrow 1-0 win over Loddon Mallee while Northern All Stars fought hard for their 1-0 win over Eastern FC.

The Under 17 Girls competition saw a truly remarkable result in the North West Wanderers v Rivers FC game. After trailing 6-0 at half time, Rivers fought back, trading goals with Wanderers in an absolute frenzy of attacking forays, the final score reading an astonishing 12-4, the highest scoring game in the VCL so far this season. One goal was enough for Loddon Mallee to see off North East 1-0 while Wimmera South Coast defeated Gippsland by the same score. Eastern and Northern drew 2-2, Central had a thrilling 3-2 win over South East and Western were very impressive in their 4-0 win over Southern.

All games were incredibly tight in the Under 17 Boys, with all six games being decided by a single goal. With matches so evenly contested, it is remarkable that there were no draws this week. Northern All Stars defeated Eastern 4-3 in a great to-and-fro encounter while Southern Bluetongues were just as entertaining in their narrow 3-2 win over Western Wolves. North West Wanderers came from 1-0 down to defeat Rivers FC 2-1, while North East Diamonds were also on the right side of a 2-1 score line, defeating Loddon Mallee Lightning. Wimmera South Coast Eagles defeated Gippsland 1-0 while Central City defeated South East Cougars 1-0 to finish up the round.