mmg.com.au

The Loddon Mallee Lightning will strike Moama on Sunday when the club’s seven teams take to Jack Eddy Oval against the North West Wanderers in round five of the Victorian Champions League.

Play will start at 10am with the under 13 boys and girls teams through to the under 17s, with Moama-Echuca Lady Raiders coach Darryl Brown taking the reins of the undefeated under 17 girls side at 1pm.

Lady Raiders Jess Pitts, Kari Gulson, Alex Cheal and Kayla Arkinstall will feature in the under 17s, which has scored 34 goals in its first five matches at an average winning margin of six.

Brown said he absolutely loved playing at Moama in front of the home crowd.

‘‘I had a look at the ground (on Wednesday) and it looks fantastic,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s probably going to be one of the best this season.’’

The coach said his players had begun to settle as a side and had learned each others’ games.

‘‘Usually with club soccer you’re not always surrounded with players of a high class,’’ he said.

‘‘You might have one or two standouts but this starting 11 are elite players of a higher skill level and it takes time to settle.’’

The Loddon Mallee was fortunate because it encouraged players to play at a higher level out in the country, Brown said.

‘‘We’ve also brought up some of the under 15 girls to see how they fare and they’ve done extremely well,’’ he said.

Other teams to watch out for are the under 15 girls, who sit second on the ladder with four wins and one loss and the under 14 boys, who sit third on four wins and one loss.

Other district Lightning players include Paige Pinson (under 13 girls), Kylie Thompson (under 15 girls), Isaac Marshall, Brenton Urbaniak and Cooper Arkinstall (under 13 boys), Nathan Urbaniak (under 14 boys), Lachlan Arkinstall (under 15 boys) and Mitch Langenbacher (under 17 boys).

The Lightning comprises players from Echuca-Moama, Bendigo, Swan Hill and Mildura and will complete its nine-week season before Christmas.

Times: Under 13 boys and girls 10am; under 14 boys and under 15 girls 11.15am; under 15 boys and under 17 girls 1pm; under 17 boys 2.30pm.