AFTER finishing prematurely in August last year, footy officially returned on Friday night as the Emmetts Night Series for 2022 commenced.
Eight local teams got their first real hit out in preparation for their respective seasons starting next month.
Woorinen started on the front foot narrowly defeating Swan Hill, the win following the news that the Tigers have signed Josh Jenkins to play in their Good Friday clash against Cohuna.
The Swans and Tigers won’t clash again until Round 11 in the Central Murray League, however both are expected to be finals contenders after strong campaigns in the shortened 2021 season.
Ultima comfortably took care of Tooleybuc-Manangatang in the second match of the evening, as the two sides look to bounce back after difficult 2021 seasons.
Ultima finished last in the Golden Rivers Football League last season and will be hoping to use Friday night’s win as a catapult to a more successful year.
Similarly, the Saints had a difficult season in 2021 going winless in the 10 matches they played.
Sea Lake Nandaly recorded a comfortable victory over home team Tyntynder, and will be looking to carry on that form into the upcoming season.
Sea-Lake Nandaly finished on top of the North Central Football League last year.
The Bulldogs had an average year in 2021, finishing their 10 games with a 5-5 record, and will go up against the Mallee Eagles this Friday night during night two of the series
In the final game, Nyah Nyah West United defeated their Central Murray opponents the Mallee Eagles.
The two sides will clash again in the Central Murray League in Round 3, and despite it only being a practice match the Demons will take a lot of positives out of the clash.
The Demons last year had a difficult season and managed only three wins and will be optimistic about the upcoming year.
The Eagles will have a second pre-season game when they clash against Tyntynder on Friday.
Tyntynder president Luke Kelly said the night was a great success.
“We had a good crowd in attendance on Friday night,” he said.
“A Good Kitchen raised $1250 so that is a good indication of the crowd size.”
Woorinen, Nyah Nyah West United, Mallee and Tyntynder also had some of their netball sides in action in the lead up to their seasons.
Each side played in three games that consisted of two 10 minute halves and no scores were recorded.FOOTBALL RESULTS NIGHT SERIESWoorinen def Swan Hill
Ultima def Tooleybuc-Manangatang
Sea Lake Nandaly def Tyntynder
Nyah Nyah West United def Mallee Eagles
