THE finals hopes of both the Mallee Eagles and Cohuna Kangas become much more precarious after the two clubs clash at Lalbert Saturday afternoon.
Both clubs entered the season with ambitions of climbing back into the finals equation, on the back of strong recruiting drives and changes of leadership.
But after just four rounds, those ambitions have taken a hit, with each on a solitary win.
While the Eagles (1-2) have played one less game, anything less than a win for Cohuna (1-3) could be costly, especially with games against NNW United and Kerang to come over the next month.
Although it’s been a less than ideal start to his tenure at the Kangas, Cohuna coach Jack Geary was confident his team’s best footy was just around the corner.
“We need to win, but so do they, we’ll put our best team out there and hopefully we can come out on top,” Geary said.
“Our best footy is good enough, but injuries are hurting us a bit at the moment, and we’re probably lacking a bit of depth and lacking with rotations as a result.
“We’ve been in winning positions in every game, other than probably the Woorinen game, where they outplayed us from the start, but we haven’t had that polish or been able to put scoreboard pressure on.
“Our defence has been good and we’ve been restricting teams to a beatable score, but we just haven’t been getting the job done in front of goals ourselves.”
Cohuna’s inability to kick a winning score has indeed been their Achilles heel, failing to reach triple figures in their four games so far.
In fact, Cohuna are averaging just 67 points per game, leaving them with the eighth most productive attack in the league.
One player who can provide them with a boost is full forward Dylan Johnstone, who has kicked just one goal from his last two games.
Although Johnstone has also been running through the ruck in the absence of Chris Anderson, he also holds the key to unlocking Cohuna’s ability to kick a winning score.
The loss of Ryan Semmel and Tim Hill will further test Cohuna’s depth, although the return of Daniel Coates from injury should provide the visitors’ forward line with another avenue to goal.
The Eagles will also have several changes, with Matthew Despott (groin) set to miss the best part of the next month, while midfielders Brett Thomas and Beau Bennett are also in doubt to take their place.
The news isn’t all bad for the blue-and-gold faithful, however, with Paul Davis, Billy O’Meara and Clinton Cummins all expected inclusions.
Mallee co-coach Harry Allen was also expected to cross the white line for the first time this season after overcoming a pre-season ankle injury.
The Eagles leader expected a tough contest against a hungry opposition.
“Every game at the moment feels like a must-win match, especially with the league so even and competitive,” Allen said.
“They’ve (Cohuna) lost a couple of games they would have liked to win, but they have some genuine top-end talent and a new coach with new game plans, which can always take a bit of time to bed down.
“The last couple of games I’ve felt like we’ve progressed pretty well, but now we have to make sure we start putting the wins on the board, otherwise we’ll be chasing our tail later in the season.
“Their midfield is as good as anyone’s in terms of their talent, with guys like (Joel) Helman and (Jarrod) Findlay.
“Sam Leitch is another one who I think is important for them and maybe goes under the radar a bit, they direct play through him a lot, so if we can restrict his opportunities, I think that will go a long way towards getting us a result.”
The Eagles have their own attacking weapons that they’ll be hoping to utilise, especially in their forward line, with key targets Darcy Hourigan (12 goals), Andrew Mead-Harding (six goals) and Jayden Post (five goals) proving to be a dangerous combination thus far.
At home and with the influential Allen back in the fold, the Eagles should prove too strong in a nail-biter.
Tip – Mallee Eagles to win by five points.
