The Cowra Magpies Youth League fell heartbreakingly short in their semi-final clash with the Orange Warriors, going down 16–17 in a game that went right down to the wire.
The Magpies fought hard all afternoon, but a last-minute field goal from the Warriors ended their season by the narrowest of margins.
Coach Marc McLeish admitted the result was tough to take, especially with his side creating chances to win.
“I think we certainly had our opportunities to win the game,” McLeish said.
“It came down to a few missed opportunities early, and look, it’s finals footy, it’s a lot harder to do.”
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“The boys acquitted themselves really well, and I’m fairly proud of their efforts.”
“You can’t look back in finals, there’s no next week.”
“The Warriors were also very good on the day, so credit to the winning team,” he said.
The Magpies also suffered a blow when their main forward, Aaron Hall, left the field early with an ankle injury.
His absence forced the team to adjust both their game plan and their bench rotation.
“We lost Aaron Hall early,he’s been our main go-forward player all year,” McLeish said.
“That certainly went against us, but the guys worked hard in the middle to cover it.”
“It wasn’t the reason we didn’t win, but it made us rethink how we attacked.”
“I was really proud of how they covered that loss and kept working hard.”
“Our bench played really strongly off the back of that,” he said.
Despite the setbacks, the Magpies showed character and belief, coming back late in the game to level the score.
“They were upbeat most of the time, no heads went down once we got behind,” McLeish said.
“We pushed hard and came back to make it 16-all with a couple of minutes to go.”
“We were preparing for extra time, and then their kicker nailed a field goal under pressure from a long way out.”
“It was a fantastic kick and credit to him, but it was heartbreaking.”
“We thought we were real chances in extra time, we had the ascendancy late in the game,” he said.
While the result stings, McLeish says the team can be proud of their progress and is optimistic about next season.
“I think a few of our players will graduate into grade for Cowra, and they’ll be very good first grade players for the Magpies,” McLeish said.
“A lot of the kids will hang around for their second year of 18s, and we’ve got a very good under-16 team coming up.”
“If we get a good pre-season in and everyone commits early, we’ll be right back up there again next year,” he said.
Reflecting on the year as a whole, McLeish said the squad had grown remarkably since the start of the campaign.
“We started slow and rebuilt, but we grew each week and got better and better,” McLeish said.
“I think by the end of the season we were capable of winning the comp.”
“At that stage, we were the best team in it but that all means nothing now.”
“Still, I just want to thank the boys for the way they embraced the club,” he said.
McLeish also made sure to thank those who had supported him and the team across the year.
“Particularly, I’d like to thank Amylee Knight, Noah Knight, Jackson McLeish and Josh Weston for their support of me,” McLeish said.
“Overall, it was a huge team effort in 2025.”
While their season ended one point short of a grand final berth, the Cowra Magpies Youth League leave the season with their heads held high.
