WOORINEN continued their climb up the Central Murray ladder at the weekend, moving to second for the first time this season after defeating Koondrook-Barham by 60 points.
A nine-goal-to-four second half helped the Tigers break the game open for a 15.19 (109) to 7.7 (49) win, Woorinen’s sixth for the season and fourth in a row since their 20-point loss to Kerang in round 4.
Although the 10-goal victory was a welcome result for Woorinen, Marcus Demaria was also impressed with what he saw from Koondrook-Barham, who despite having not won a game so far this season are not far away, according to the long-time Tigers coach.
“It was a tough day to be honest,” Demaria said.
“The intensity was right up there at the beginning and it took us a bit to break open the game and get our running game going.
“Full credit to (Koondrook-Barham) – they were really good.
“It’s hard to believe they are actually sitting 0-7 as they play a pretty good brand of footy.
“Their pressure was great and they moved the ball well.
“The only thing is that they perhaps struggled to maintain that intensity for the full four quarters, and once that pressure died off a little bit it allowed us to play our game a bit more.
“But that said, there’s definitely some promising signs from them and some light at the end of the tunnel.
“I was genuinely impressed with how they went about it.”
While Koondrook-Barham impressed Demaria, the performances of Lachie Warburton, Henry Thompson and Regan Vesty impressed the Woorinen faithful, with Warburton playing a predominately forward role after Will Collicoat was injured early in the match.
Warburton was instrumental across half-forward and kicked three goals, along with Arnold Kirby, but also provided a target across half-forward, as did Lachie Gardner who also played higher up the ground as a result of Collicoat’s absence.
Thompson and Vesty were also influential contributors for the Tigers, with both players finding plenty of the ball, along with Jye Barry, midfielder-forward Tom Langford and Brock McLean, who spent the majority of the afternoon across half-back before having a run on the ball late in the game.
Mitch Christensen battled hard in the ruck for the Raiders, with his ability to get around the ground and impact not only with his contested marking but also his clean ball use, seeing him take the points in his battle against Arnold Kirby.
Also among Koondrook-Barham’s better players were Jack Thrum, Cambell Davison, Billy Driscoll and Jason Hura, while Kye Attwell provided the River Raiders with a strong focal point up forward across the four quarters.
Woorinen will now enjoy two weeks off before hosting Tooleybuc-Manangatang in round 10, while Koondrook-Barham will also face the Saints next up, travelling to Tooleybuc after the King’s Birthday bye.
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| Koondrook-Barham | 2.2 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 7.7 | 49 |
| Woorinen | 2.4 | 6.10 | 10.14 | 15.19 | 109 |
VOTES
3 – Lachlan Warburton (Woorinen)
2 – Henry Thompson (Woorinen)
1 – Mitchell Christensen (Koondrook-Barham)
