TOOLEYBUC-Manangatang’s charge up the Central Murray ladder continued at the weekend, recording an impressive 44-point win over Lake Boga.
Aided by a strong breeze favouring the northern end of the ground, the Saints kicked seven unanswered goals in the first quarter to break the game open before quarter-time.
Midfielder-forward Connor Nutting was the chief protagonist, kicking five first-quarter goals.
Although the Magpies answered back in the second term, holding the Saints goalless while kicking three goals, the damage had been done.
The visitors went on to record a comfortable 10.12 (72) to 4.4 (28) win.
It was Tooleybuc-Manangatang’s fourth win from their first five games and continued the club’s turnaround under Brad Morris, now sitting third on the ladder ahead of perennial finalists Woorinen and Kerang.
While acknowledging the challenging conditions played a part, especially in the first quarter, Morris was pleased with how his team began.
“We jumped out of the blocks and that was something we spoke about pre-game, we identified that regardless of whether we had the breeze or not in the first quarter, we were still going to play pretty attacking footy,” Morris said.
“We were mindful of how they (Lake Boga) have been playing, they’ve just been rolling the dice and playing attacking football, and we felt that we’d try and match it with them in that regard while still paying them the respect they deserved.
“We wanted to go pretty hard at the start, so to get the breeze and be able to capitalise on that was good.
“We were pretty true by foot and executed pretty well, which was a big positive for us, especially in the conditions, which were pretty trying all day.
“We have our plans and we’re not differing from them week to week, it’s more about just getting that predictability within the group and working to our strengths and we were lucky enough to get the win.”
While the Saints’ opening quarter proved the difference, Lake Boga more than held their own for the remainder of the game, breaking even for the final three quarters.
It was the first time Magpies coach Dean Helmers had faced off against the Saints since departing as their senior coach at the end of last season.
Helmers praised for his former side and the way they attacked the game in the opening 30 minutes.
“It was a really good game of footy, but they were brilliant in the first quarter,” Helmers said.
“It was a bad toss to lose as the game was done at quarter-time, but to our boys’ credit, they were very good in the second and third quarters and fought the game out.
“We played some great footy, but are still struggling to get it on the board, we kept coming but (Tooleybuc-Manangatang) held up extremely well defensively.
“I can see Tooleybuc-Manangatang giving finals a shake this season and hopefully we can cause a few upsets in the back half of the season when a few of our key players return.”
Tooleybuc-Manangatang ruckman Connor McDonald continued his dominant season, not only impacting the game at the stoppages but also at ground level.
Nutting’s five-goal opening quarter was another highlight, before the Saints opted to put him on ice after half-time due to his hamstring strain a fortnight prior against Cohuna.
Harrison Maher played predominately across half-forward and through the midfield, before playing across half-back in the final quarter and impacting as an intercept defender, while John Wardle was also among the Saints’ better players in the defensive half of the ground.
Fraser Colville, David Gourdis, Dylan McCosh and Marty Parsons were named as Lake Boga’s better players, while Zac Warne was strong across half-back and gave the Magpies plenty of run and drive from their defensive half of the ground, with Brodie Tonkin giving the home side plenty of grunt around the stoppages.
FINAL SIREN
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| LAKE BOGA | 0.0 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 28 |
| TOOLEYBUC MANANGATANG | 7.2 | 7.3 | 9.7 | 10.12 | 72 |
VOTES
3 – Connor McDonald (Tooleybuc-Manangatang)
2 – John Wardle (Tooleybuc-Manangatang)
1 – Harrison Maher (Tooleybuc-Manangatang)
