LAKE Boga won their first game for the season by 41 points with a commanding display against a disappointing Koondrook-Barham combination.
Played in front of a healthy crowd at the Lake Boga Recreation Reserve, the match never reached any great height as a spectacle, with the home side eventually getting home 12.8 (80) to 5.9 (39).
After winning the toss, the Magpies kicked with the aid of a two-goal breeze in the first quarter and were rewarded when young gun Koben Ryan snapped truly from his right boot from 30 metres out, five minutes into the term.
Goals to Aaron Lonergan and Ryan Fox gave Lake Boga the early advantage, but to the Raiders’ credit, two late goals to Josh McMahon and Billy Driscoll gave them a glimmer of hope that they were back in the contest.
Koondrook-Barham continually turned the football over in the midfield and if it were not for the efforts of Reagan Hamiliton, Scott Wood and Patrick Goble in defence, they would have trailed by much more than the eight points they did at quarter time.
Lake Boga’s better players in the opening term were onballers Brodie Tonkin, Kadek Irvan and Kai Everitt, who were forced to lift their work rate following a knee injury to talented onballer Nathaniel Holmes-Brown, who took no further part in the game.
Lake Boga played well in the second term, booting three goals to the Raiders’ four points.
Tonkin continued to work hard all over the ground, with Will Doquille and Josh Wills starting to come under notice with both displaying their silky skills.
Other players to stand out were the Lonergan brothers, Aaron and Jayden, along with Xavier Sherlock and Fraser Colville.
Koondrook-Barham had their fair share of the ball, but poor decision making and shocking disposal crucified any chance of them capitalising on the breeze.
Hamilton went into the ruck and held his own against Everitt, while Kye Attwell went forward to try and give the Raiders more avenues to goal, which was to no avail, despite Attwell taking several strong marks.
Goble continued to be lively in the midfield and Cambell Davison tried hard to lift his teammates with good runs off half-back, with Wood providing excellent support with his strong intercept marking in the Raiders’ defensive half.
Jack Shannon, Josh McMahon and Jordan McKinnon were also among Koondrook-Barham’s better players in the first half.
The third term would again belong to the Magpies, with Ryan booting his third major for the game in an excellent display across half-forward by the youngster.
Lake Boga full forward David Gourdis also chimed in with two goals for the term as he led beautifully into space close to goal, thus enabling him to kick truly.
Koondrook-Barham again slaughtered the football by both hand and foot, resulting in congested pack situations, with the umpires earning their pay due to the high number of stoppages.
Tonkin continued to work hard around the packs with Zac Warne, Marty Parsons and Nelson Ibbs combining well to repel the Raiders’ advances on goal.
The last quarter was the best for the game, with the River Raiders finally hitting their targets.
Hamilton kicked arguably the goal of the day after being hard-pressed against the boundary line from 50 metres out, while Mitch Christensen also kicked his only goal for the game.
The final margin was purely academic, however, as the siren sounded to give Lake Boga the chance to sing their team song for the first time in 2024.
FINAL SIREN
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| LAKE BOGA | 3.2 | 6.2 | 9.8 | 12.8 | 80 |
| KOONDROOK BARHAM | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 5.9 | 39 |
VOTES
3 – Brodie Tonkin (Lake Boga)
2 – Koban Ryan (Lake Boga)
1 – Kadek Irvan (Lake Boga)
