This week saw those teams who didn’t go to Mildura venture up to Shepparton for the second Gala Round of the VCL season.

The Under 13 Boys competition yielded several one-sided matches this week, with North East Diamonds’ 2-0 win over South East Cougars and Southern Bluetongues’ 3-1 win over Wimmera South Coast Eagles the two closest scores of the round. North East ensured that they returned home from the weekend with maximum points with an 8-3 win over Eastern FC while Southern Bluetongues did the same with a 7-0 win over Rivers FC. Rivers didn’t have much luck against Wimmera South Coast either, losing 5-1. Central City were smart in front of goal first thing on Saturday morning, with a 5-0 win over Northern at DISC. Loddon Mallee were polished in their 5-1 victory over Western as were South East in their win over Eastern while North West Wanderers were simply too good for Gippsland Knights, running away 11-0 winners.

Seven was the magic number in the Under 13 Girls competition this week, with three teams puting seven goals past their opponents. North East defeated South East 7-0, Western Wolves defeated Loddon Mallee Lighting 7-2 and Rivers overcame Wimmera South Coast 7-2. North East were on the money again defeating Eastern 5-0, Southern defeated Rivers 4-1 in a high quality encounter and South East and Eastern drew 1-1 to round out the gala matches. Further south, Central edged past Northern 1-0 and North West returned from Traralgon with a 2-0 win.

It was a hard fought round in the Under 14 Boys this week, with several teams proving impossible to separate.   Rivers put on a show for their home fans, drawing 4-4 with the much fancied Southern Bluetongues. Eastern came from a goal behind at half time to draw 1-1 with North East while Central shared the spoils with Northern; 2-2 the final score. South East enjoyed a 4-1 win over Eastern, Western Wolves defeated Loddon Mallee 4-0 and North East looked  good in their 5-1 win over South East. Wimmera played beautifully in their match against Southern, and were unlucky to lose 4-3.

The build up to the top of the table clash between South East Cougars and North East Diamonds in the Under 15 Girls couldn’t have been better. Both sides showed form in their opening matches of the round with Eastern unfortunately on the end of a 6-0 defeat to South East and a 10-0 defeat to North East. All eyes were on Pitch 4 at McEwan Reserve with South East taking a narrow 2-1 lead into half time, before finishing the job in the second half, eventually winning 4-1 in one of the best games of the season. After losing to Rivers 3-1, Southern turned things around and were able to see off Wimmera 4-2 while Rivers and Wimmera drew 2-2 in an exciting back-and-forth encounter. Central City saw off Northern All Stars 3-1, Western defeated Loddon 3-2 in an even match while four first half goals saw Gippsland defeat North West 4-1.

North East Diamonds and Southern Bluetongues returned home from Shepparton with maximum competition points in the Under 15 Boys, winning both of their games over the weekend. North East defeated Eastern 4-2 before going on to beat South East 4-0, while Southern beat Rivers 3-1 and Wimmera South Coast 1-0 in their two matches. South East played well in their 2-0 win over Eastern while Rivers earned just their second win of the season with a 2-1 win over Wimmera South Coast Eagles. Northern All Stars were clinical in their 6-0 victory over Central City, while Western Wolves were just as sharp against Loddon Mallee, winning 6-0 as well while North West shared the ball around nicely in their 4-1 win over Gippsland.

South East Cougars were the big surprise in the Under 17 Girls this week. After collecting only five competition points in eight matches, the Cougars were probably due some luck after playing relatively well so far this season. After seeing off Eastern 6-2 in their opening match of the round, the team in the green and white hoops caused the upset of the season when they defeated the mighty North East Diamonds 3-0. It wasn’t all bad for North East, who defeated Eastern 7-1 in their other match over the weekend. Like South East, Rivers have not had results fall their way earlier in the season despite playing well in most of their games, and their perseverance paid dividends in front of their home fans with two tight but well earned 2-1 wins over Southern and Wimmera South Coast respectively. In other matches this round, Wimmera defeated Southern 2-0, Central City and Northern drew 1-1 while Loddon Mallee maintained their place on top of the table with a convincing 7-0 win over Western.

There was plenty of action in the Under 17 Boys this week, with Wimmera South Coast Eagles impressive as usual in their 7-0 win over a plucky Rivers FC outfit and their 4-0 win over the talented Southern Bluetongues. Both North East Diamonds and South East Cougars moved the ball around nicely on the weekend, and could both consider themselves unlucky not to take any competition points from their respective matches against Eastern, with South East losing 1-0 and North East going down 4-2. It was a Cougar Diamond classic on Sunday, with the Diamonds winning 3-2. Rivers had an excellent match against South East, winning 4-3 after leading 3-2 at half time. Further south, Gippsland Knights were too good for North West, winning 6-0, Central City defeated Northern 4-0 and Loddon Mallee and Western played out an entertaining 1-1 draw.