Albury back in the race to play A-grade finals after beating Lavington by two goals

Knowing defeat would have left them two wins adrift of the top five, Albury fought tooth and nail for the 50-48 result which now has them sitting alongside the Panthers on 16 points.

Lilli Howe and coach Skye Hillier shot 34 and 16 goals respectively for the hosts, while 14-year-old state representative Kijana McCowan had a fine game in goalkeeper up against Maddy Plunkett, who came in for the injured Christine Oguche.

Plunkett gave the Tigers defence plenty to think about, putting up 28 goals, but Hillier's side kept their noses in front throughout a frantic final quarter.

"We knew we had to win to keep our season alive," Hillier said.

"It felt like we were going goal for goal so to look at the scoreboard and see we'd pushed a couple of goals ahead was pleasing.

"But we thought it would go down to the last minute and it pretty much did!

"We knew we were playing them for a tall forward, regardless of whether it was Christine or Maddy, and the girls took care of it so Kijana didn't have any pressure.

"If Kijana got hand to ball, brilliant, and if not, hopefully we were getting the job done before.

"In a game like that, we're experienced enough to know that if we get a turnover, we just fight harder to get it back.

"We lost Brigetta Singe before the game with sickness so to have faith in those young girls, even Marny (Hillier) to come into WA and do her job, it's really pleasing.

"It's awesome for the club too.

"It's been a tough season for our B and C-grade and sometimes A-grade has to get the club up and about so today was really important."

Albury's ability to open up a four-goal buffer in the second quarter proved crucial with nothing between the sides for the rest of the game.

Gabe McRae and Niamh Thorn were excellent for the Tigers, while Olivia Sanson (20 goals) and Tayla Furborough shone in defeat.

"We did our best," Lavington coach Linda Charlton said.

"We played hard and I don't think we did too much wrong.

"Their attack end gelled really well and it was hard for us to win a bit of ball back.

"But I thought our attack end did pretty well too; Liv Sanson had a really good game and Maddy Plunkett played well.

"It was just a few wayward balls at the wrong time which cost us so we need to tidy up those sort of things."

Elsewhere, Wodonga Raiders beat Myrtleford 46-45 in another thriller.

Mackensey House and Molly Goldsworthy were magnificent in the Raiders defence and Mia Lavis capped a fine attacking performance with 22 goals.

Raiders trailed by two goals at half-time but they dug deep again, seven days after coming from behind to beat Lavington, and this result has lifted them above the Saints into third.

Yarrawonga beat Wodonga 55-37 to go eight points clear at the top while Wangaratta Rovers claimed their first win of the season, 48-41 away to North Albury.

Samantha Kreltszheim led the way for the Hawks with 27 goals, while Kelsie Wilson was also outstanding.

The ladder at the halfway stage of the season is: Yarrawonga 32 points, Wangaratta 24, Wodonga Raiders 24, Myrtleford 20, Lavington 16, Albury 16, North Albury 4, Wodonga 4, Wangaratta Rovers 4.

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