LAKE Boga have held on to claim their third win of the season with a one-goal victory over Kerang in a nail-biting finish.
In one of the upsets of the season, the Magpies led at every change despite going into the game as rank outsiders against a team considered the most likely rival to premiership favourites the Mallee Eagles.
After conceding the first five goals of the match, Lake Boga quickly regained their composure, with the Magpies going on a scoring rampage either side of quarter time after scoring 18-goals to three in a 12 minute period.
The Magpies opened up a 10-goal lead mid-way through the second term, before the Blues began pegging them back with the margin eventually reduced to just two goals by the final change.
The last quarter descended into an arm wrestle in the difficult conditions, with Lake Boga eventually holding on to win 47-46.
It was a win that highlighted the improvement in the young Lake Boga squad according to coach Lisa Ryan, with her team now climbing to eighth on the Central Murray ladder as a result.
“I’m absolutely thrilled and so proud of them,” Ryan said.
“They’ve come such a long way and they played really well.
“We had a pretty good start and Kerang sort of came back at us towards the end but we managed to hold on, which in previous games we probably haven’t been able to hold onto a lead or come back from a deficit in those close ones.
“It was really good, just consistent gameplay, great shooting, great defence, it was a really good game overall really.”
Although Lake Boga were without midcourter Steph Anderson, Kerang were without goal keeper Chloe Adams, with the co-coaches absence leaving a big hole in Blues defence.
While Emma Chamberlain performed admirably in Adams’ place, she was unable to quell the influence of Milla Holt, with the Magpies goal shooter scoring a game high 40 goals and playing a key role in the victory.
“We probably capitalised down our goal end a bit better, I felt,” Ryan said.
“Milla was amazing at goal shooter, she held really well, positioned a lot of balls under pressure in those two on one situations and she just shot amazingly.
“Jess (Weaver) sort of stays out of the ring a lot and then just comes in at the last minute and gives a lot of space to Milla, but she also played a key role.
“Ruby (Ryan) had to play wing attack so we had two young girls playing centre and wing attack, but both Ruby and Montana (Davies) have grown so much over the season, and their passing into the ring has improved 100 per cent.
“Our defence was incredible also and they took a lot of intercepts, especially Maddy Gleeson and Felicity Robertson in the last quarter took a couple of crucial intercepts as the goal keeper which were crucial to us holding onto our lead.”
For Kerang, Katelyn Wright was huge, with the Blues goal attack scoring 27 of her team’s 46 goals to be a clear standout, with Denise Roberts also among their better players.
FINAL SCORE
| LAKE BOGA | 47 |
|---|---|
| KERANG | 46 |
