A NINE-goal-to-one first half has seen reigning premiers Kerang put Lake Boga to the sword, with the Blues securing a 103-point win in wet conditions at Riverside Park.
Kerang dominated from start to finish on Saturday and extended their lead at every break on their way to claiming their fourth straight win 20.18 (138) to 5.5 (35), with the Blues continuing to keep pace with ladder leaders NNW United.
The win was set up by a dominant midfield display from onballers Josh Nitschke, Marty Kelly and Sam Heavyside, according to senior coach Troy Coates, who also gave praise to his small forwards after the match.
“I thought our midfield was super,” Coastes said.
“Our stoppage numbers and centre clearances we were well on top in, and in those conditions it was a credit to those boys to be winning clean ball out of there.
“We had a bit of a focus on being a bit more direct and not messing around with the footy too much, and with our forward line we may not have any really big talls in there but we’re very dangerous at ground level with guys like Sean Hunter and Brett Kennedy.
“Having a smaller forward line played into our hands a little bit in the conditions, while they (Lake Boga) are a bit more of a running side which the conditions didn’t really suit as much either.
“We’re starting to play some really good footy now and to win by over 100 points in those conditions was impressive.
“I was a bit frustrated earlier in the season and we couldn’t quite work out what was going on but we’ve made a few positional changes and it’s starting to work for us now, which is good.”
One of those recent positional changes has been the return of Bradlee Pay to half-back, with the 200-game veteran returning to form with his run and ball use out of defence.
Also among the Blues’ better players were Tyson Clingan, Rylee Gitsham and livewire forward Kennedy, who finished as the game’s leading goal kicker with four majors, with the only downside for the reigning premiers being a minor hamstring strain to midfielder Josh Hann.
Although Saturday proved to be a tough day at the office for Lake Boga, there were still positives to take from the loss, according to Magpies coach Dean Helmers, with his young side giving their all in the difficult conditions.
“Kerang are the best side we have played this season, without a doubt,” Helmers said.
“Our guys threw the kitchen sink at them (Kerang) but they are just so polished – they have the list which is versatile and can all rotate through plenty of positions, whereas we have to take players out of spots that we need them playing to fill holes, and it opened us up time and time again.
“I spoke to our guys after the game about aspiring to create standards like Kerang clearly have: they are all super-fit and one-touch players, but the beauty about my guys is that they all compete and we have time to develop as we are such a young team.”
Taylor Johnstone competed tirelessly in the ruck opposed to Nick Lang to be among the Magpies’ better players, along with defenders Zac Warne, Marty Parsons, Nelson Ibbs, Josh Wills and Xavier Sherlock, who was dangerous up forward.
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| Kerang | 4.6 | 9.11 | 14.13 | 20.18 | 138 |
| Lake Boga | 1.2 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 5.5 | 35 |
VOTES
3 – Josh Nitschke (Kerang)
2 – Marty Kelly (Kerang)
1 – Sam Heavyside (Kerang)
