KERANG coach Troy Coates was left lamenting his team’s inability to convert in front of goal, having to settle for a draw against the Mallee Eagles at Riverside Park.
It was the fourth match in a row where Kerang kicked more behinds than goals, their inaccuracy costing them a valuable two points in the 5.12 (43) to 6.7 (43) result.
The reigning premiers dominated the second quarter, when the inside-50 count favoured the home side 20-3, but were unable to transfer that dominance onto the scoreboard as they kicked 1.7.
Coates was critical of his team’s poor finishing.
“Our goalkicking has been horrendous so far this season,” Coates said.
“Poor kicking is poor footy and it cost us the game, to be honest.
“We’ve been winning but we haven’t been playing great footy, Saturday was a bit of a wake-up call that we probably needed.
“I think we were up in most aspects of the game, but we just didn’t capitalise and we had a few opportunities late in the game where we missed some shots as well.
“The league is so even this year that if you’re just a little bit off your game or if you kick inaccurate or lose players to injury, then any team can beat anyone on their day as we’ve seen countless times already.”
Kerang weren’t the only ones feeling as though the game was an opportunity lost.
The Mallee Eagles, who led by seven points with just minutes remaining in a low-scoring game, walked away disappointed after failing to close out the match.
After allowing the Blues to kick a late goal, a free kick to Kerang’s Marty Kelly inside 50 gave the veteran midfielder the opportunity to take the victory.
Kelly’s shot sailed wide, however, leaving the scores tied.
The clock ran out without any addition to the scoreboard.
Mallee Eagles co-coach Harry Allen was left frustrated by the result, with his side unable to hold off the reigning premiers when in sight of the final siren.
“We had a couple of chances to ice the game, we had a couple of forward entries that we probably should have scored from, but instead they won it back, took it down their end and scored,” Allen said.
“We were happy to have the draw in one sense, because it could have easily gone the other way, but at the same time, we felt like we had the upper hand being seven points up with only minutes to go and from that perspective, it’s probably a game that got away.
“We’ll take a lot of confidence out of it. We pushed the reigning premiers on their home deck and we could have or should have won the game, but in saying that, you have to play well for four quarters.
“There are lots of positives for us to take and we now know that our game style stands up against the best and we’ve just got to keep working on that.”
It was a disrupted pre-match build-up for both clubs, with Kerang losing captain Josh Nitschke to a hamstring strain, while key onballer Brady Fordham was a late out with a back injury for the Eagles.
Sean Hunter was instrumental for the Blues across half-back and was clear best on ground, while midfielders Tyson Clingan, Sam Heavyside and Kelly also had an impact for Kerang.
Josh Hunter was given the task of quelling the influence of Eagles key forward Darcy Hourigan and handled the task with aplomb, with Hunter restricting the key target to just one goal for the afternoon.
Darcy McGregor kicked three goals from the midfield for the visitors and was a standout, along with Zac O’Meara across half-back, while former Richmond forward Jayden Post moved to defence, impacting with his ability to read the play and intercept mark.
Also among the Eagles’ better players Jacob O’Meara and Harry McGregor, the latter doing a job on negating Kerang’s milestone man Bradlee Pay, who stepped out for his 200th senior game in navy blue.
FINAL SIREN
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| KERANG | 1.3 | 4.10 | 4.10 | 5.13 | 43 |
| MALLEE EAGLES | 2.2 | 2.3 | 6.5 | 6.7 | 43 |
VOTES
3 – Sean Hunter (Kerang)
2 – Darcy McGregor (Mallee Eagles)
1 – Jayden Post (Mallee Eagles)
