By Brook Shaune-Bould
THE Cohuna Kangas scored their sixth win in a row with a 152-point victory over Nyah-Nyah West United at the weekend.
Cohuna kicked the first two goals of the game, but the Demons responded with strong pressure through the midfield and a quick goal.
NNW United briefly looked like they might be able to stay with the Kangas, but by quarter-time were 27 points down. By half-time the deficit had blown out to 78 points.
Cohuna’s dominant midfield limited the Demons’ ability to get the ball into their forward half. NNW United were unable to score a second goal until the 10-minute mark of the third quarter.
Despite the win, inaccuracy up front continued to plague the Kangas. They kicked more points than goals in the second and third quarters, often failing to slow down and set up opportunities for each other, ending the game with 26.24.
Frustration boiled over for Demons full back Adrian Knee in the final term, when he became fixated on an umpire who awarded a free kick against him.
Knee unleashed a torrent of abuse against the umpire, who responded by awarding a 50-metre penalty. This resulted in a goal for Cohuna, but Knee refused to walk away, despite several warnings.
The umpire then awarded a second free kick, which resulted in another Cohuna goal.
Rhys Free continued to stake his claim as the competition’s leading goalkicker with a near best-on-ground performance and another nine majors for the Kangas.
Tom Toma also dominated up forward with four goals, while Daniel Coates scored three goals and Sam Conforti and Dylan Johnstone each kicked two.
Alex Erlandson, Jayden Stirling and Frank Violi were the only goal scorers for NNW, with one major each.
After the game, Cohuna coach Neil Bradley singled out Ben Edwards for praise.
“He’s fitted into the team beautifully – he’s part of our family now,” he said.
Bradley said he was looking forward to the weeks ahead, with Cohuna set to play Kerang and the Mallee Eagles.
“We know we’re going to face a significant challenge in a couple of weeks’ time,” he said.
“So we need to put our heads down and keep working.”
NNW United coach Corey Daniels said he was proud of his team for refusing to give up and contesting every ball, right up to the final siren.
“We’ve got a lot of boys out with injuries and a lot of sore boys,” he said.
“Cohuna’s a good side and I thought we fought pretty well.”
VOTES
3 votes Sam Conforti, Cohuna Kangas
2 votes Rhys Free, Cohuna Kangas
1 votes Tom Toma, Cohuna Kangas
MATCH RESULTS
COHUNA KANGAS 26.24.180
NNW UNITED 3.10.28
GOALS – COHUNA KANGAS – Rhys Free 9, Tom Toma 4, Daniel Coates 3, Sam Conforti, Dylan Johnstone 2.
NNW UNITED – Alex Erlandson, Jaydyn Stirling, Frank Violi 1.
BEST – COHUNA KANGAS – Sam Conforti, Rhys Free, Tom Toma, Oscar Cooke, Tom Metherell, Daniel Coates.
NNW UNITED – Not supplied
