BALRANALD’S hopes of finishing in the all-important top three are fading by the week, having suffered a shock 11-point loss to a rejuvenated Cohuna Kangas.
It was the Roos’ third loss from the past four matches, with last year’s grand finalists now six points adrift of third-placed Mallee Eagles with six games remaining.
With everything to play for, the Roos started strong in the slippery conditions, taking a 17-point lead into quarter-time, making the most of yellow cards to Kangas playmakers Izaac Johnson and Jackson Williams.
With Johnson and Williams returning in the second term, the Kangas went about pegging the lead back, trailing by just seven points at the final change.
From then on it was all Cohuna, with three unanswered goals in the final quarter guiding the Kangas to a 10.8 (68) to 8.9 (57) victory and back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
It was a win a long time in the making for Cohuna coach Jack Geary, with the Kangas starting to play the type of football many predicted early in the season after the return of several key players in recent weeks.
“A bit of belief and a few wins goes a long way,” Geary said.
“I don’t think any one thing in particular has turned things around, but we’ve got a few blokes back on the park, a bit of cohesion and a few games under our belt together.
“At no point this season have I ever thought we were too far off our best, but we’re just going in with the mentality that anything can happen from this point onwards.”
Like most games around the district, the persistent rain made ball movement difficult for much of the afternoon, with Cohuna’s Chris Anderson getting on top in the ruck and onballers Jarrod Findlay, Joel Helman and Williams all finding plenty of the ball in the wet weather.
“We adjusted to the conditions well and played a bit of a territory game after quarter-time and slowly broke them down I felt,” Geary said.
“We didn’t start well and we’re a bit slack in the first quarter, we had six blokes on the bench for 10 minutes or so and we just had to fight and hold them at bay for that period of time, but once we got everyone back on the park, we were able to break them down.”
While Johnson’s send-off in the first set his team back, he more than made up for it upon his return, with his defensive pressure in the Kangas’ forward half a key factor in his side’s ability to lock the ball in their front half of the ground.
It was an element of Balranald’s game that was equally absent for long periods of the match.
Roos co-coach Tom Lister lamented his team’s lack of forward-half pressure, now clearly becoming an issue as their season slips away.
“Our forward pressure has been nonexistent for long periods lately,” Lister said.
“The ball goes forward for us more than the opposition every week, but when guys who lead or present don’t get used, they aren’t working to get back and help, but the opposition backs do.
“It was good in the first half, we locked it in and got repeat opportunities, but then it just completely fell away, so we’ll rejig our forward line and find a way to make it work.
“Saturday was really typical of what we have been producing, we seemingly had the game played on our terms for a half and then we have a quarter where we kick poorly, leave the door open and get rolled.
“We are currently playing two games in one essentially, really positive and on-brand, but then we fall away to something completely opposite and go away from what has been working.”
Matthew Neagle continued his strong season to be one of the Roos shining lights, along with brother Jaxon across half-back.
Also among Balranald’s better players was Ryan Middlebrook and Harrison Soraggi, with Drew Lloyd and Jack Jones key contributors in the loss as well.
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| Cohuna | 2.3 | 4.3 | 7.6 | 10.8 | 68 |
| Balranald | 5.2 | 6.7 | 8.7 | 8.9 | 57 |
VOTES
3 – Christopher Anderson (Cohuna)
2 – Matthew Neagle (Balranald)
1 – Jarrod Findlay (Cohuna)
