LAKE Boga have held off a fast-finishing Tooleybuc-Manangatang side to take victory by 13 points on Saturday at Tooleybuc Recreation Reserve.
Leading at every break, the Magpies seemed to always have an answer for a resilient Saints side that refused to lie down.
After a tight opening first quarter, both sides began to get going in the second as momentum swung both ways that led to both sides kicking three goals during a free-flowing second quarter.
Six goals for the Magpies in the third quarter blew the game out as Magpies co-coach Angus Monfries kicked two goals in the first five minutes to start things off before the Saints responded to control play for a bit.
However the Magpies soon got on top again as two goals late in the quarter to Jarrod Taylor and Noah Sherlock extended the margin to beyond twenty and when Monfries kicked his third of the quarter the margin was suddenly over 30.
Heading into the last break, it was beginning to look like the Magpies would run out the game comfortable winners however the Saints refused to give up and responded in a big way.
Alex Harvey got the Saints off to the perfect start in the last, before Jayden Lonergan steadied the ship for the Magpies with his third goal of the game that extended the margin to beyond 30 again.
But the Saints kept coming and Harvey soon had his second of the quarter as it looked like the Magpies were starting to run out of legs.
Late in the quarter, Brayden Pitcher kicked two long range goals which narrowed the margin, however it was too little too late as the Saints ran out of time and Lake Boga held on for victory.
Lonergan, Monfries and Taylor were the multiple goal kickers for the Magpies while the Saints had Harvey, Johnathan Marsden, Pitcher, Powell and Peter Rothacker all kick two apiece for the Saints.
Magpie recruits Jacob Simpson and Josh Filo had great debuts for the club as they continued to battle on all day which resulted in the Magpies having the upper hand in clearances around the ground.
If the duo continue this kind of this form they will create headaches for a lot of clubs this year.
Speaking after the match Monfries was pleased with the performance.
“Yeah it was good,” he said.
“We obviously didn’t play our best footy early on but then we got going a bit in the third.”
“We probably ran out of legs in the end but we were far enough in front to hold on which was good.”
Monfries praised a whole team effort that helped the Magpies to victory.
“We had a number of boys who stood out today,” he said.
“Some of our younger players were really good, Rory Colville and Lachie Burns and then some of our recruits were really good also.”
“I think it was a pretty even spread amongst the whole team but it was good to get everyone playing together.”
Despite the loss Saints coach Dean Helmers was optimistic after such an encouraging performance.
“Everyone is up and about and was enjoying the game, we had a few lapses here and there during the game that is to be expected,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be pretty hard to hold them down for four quarters.”
“The way we finished the game, we are very happy with that.”
After mounting a fourth quarter comeback, Helmers praised his team for refusing to drop their heads.
“I thought Alex Powell was fantastic considering he had to play in the ruck at different times,” he said.
“Jono Marsden was fantastic all day and the backline held up pretty well considering some of the free-flowing football that went in there over the course of the day.”
“We are bringing a lot of excitement to this club and I think most people can see we turned up with a plan today.”
“We stuck to the plan and we are very close already.”
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
3 Votes – Jacob Simpson
2 Votes – Josh Filo
1 Vote – Alex Powell
