Victoria wins fourth consecutive EJ Whitten Legends game

VICTORIA made it four consecutive EJ Whitten Legends game victories against the All-Stars at Etihad Stadium last night.

Four majors each to champion forwards Matthew Lloyd and Brendon Fevola and two from comedian Dave Hughes was the difference in the 0.15.6 (96) to 2.10.10 (88) result.

The All-Stars started the better side kicking the opening two goals through captain-coach Shane Crawford and a super goal to Hawthorn premiership player Michael Osborne.

Fevola ignited the Vics with a miraculous soccer-style volley goal midway through the second quarter to give his side a narrow halftime lead, despite the efforts of Darwin-based goalkicking machine Abbey Holmes.

Holmes bounced back from a heavy tackle by boxer Sam Soliman to kick three first-half goals.

The third quarter started in controversy with former Sun and Hawk Campbell Brown striking former teammate Osborne high.

However, Osborne bounced back to take a spectacular mark over Brown in the final term.

The All-Stars had a chance to win the game in the dying minutes, when Today host Karl Stefanovic found space deep in the forward line, but Jeff Farmer’s pass sailed over his head.

A strong mark and goal from Hughes — who had spent time on Holmes at full-back but found himself in the goalsquare with minutes to play — was the difference and brought the 25,000-crowd to its feet.

Stafanovic blamed poor delivery from the All-Stars midfielders for his inability to steal the win and joked after the siren that captain-coach Shane Crawford should be sacked after the loss. But Crawford said today the fact that no one was seriously injured counted as a win.

He said his pre-game instructions were to avoid tackling and any defensive pressure.

Now in its 18th year the Legends game has raised more than $1.3 million in aid of prostate cancer research.

Source: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/victoria-wins-fourth-consecutive-ej-whitten-legends-game-against-all-stars-at-etihad-stadium/story-fni5f22o-1226975052464