A seven goal to two final quarter lifted Lake Boga to a heart stopping three-point win over Mallee Eagles on Saturday, and moved them into a coveted top three spot in the process.
Having trailed all day and finding themselves down by 28 points at the final break, the Magpies were staring down the barrel of their third straight loss – until the move of defender Matt Taverna forward changed the complexion of the game.
Taverna kicked two last quarter goals, giving the visitors a spark in the forward line that had been missing to that point – with his ability to not only provide a strong marking target but also impact the contest deep.
Lake Boga continued to press, taking over through the midfield and around the stoppages, with the Eagles unable to stop the onslaught.
With the game on the line, Magpies’ veteran Wes Harrison then slotted the match winning goal in the dying stages – giving his team the lead for the first time for the afternoon – and a 11.4 (70) to 10.7 (67) victory.
Lake Boga co-coach Angus Monfries was ecstatic with the effort post-game – declaring it a performance that could well shape their season.
“They’re (the Mallee Eagles) a great team and for us to be over four goals down at three quarter time and then come back into the contest in the manner that we did was a sensational effort,” Monfries said.
“We were probably kicking with a two or three goal breeze in the last quarter which helped us out a bit – but it was probably the move of Matt Taverna forward that changed things for us really.”
Josh Filo and Jacob Simpson continued their stellar form out of the middle – with the efforts of Brady Hogan and Oliver Rohde down back also standing out across the four quarters.
Harry Allen returned for the Eagles, playing his first game since round two – and while he immediately returned to his consistent best, in the end he could not match the irrepressible Filo brothers.
Toby Sheahan won plenty of the footy for the Eagles, as did Ayden Tessari in defence – while Ethan Pinchen finished with a game high four goals and provided a solid target in the absence of star forward Sam Dunstan.
It was a point that wasn’t lost on Monfries – who admitted both teams were far from full strength.
“They had a couple out, but we had a couple out too – Daniel Dzufer and Tyle Williams both didn’t play and we were also missing Lincoln Frost, Rhys Healey and Jayden Lonergan, too,” Monfries said.
“It was one of those eight-point games for us just because of where both teams are on the ladder and how we’ll likely be fighting it out with each other come finals time and that puts us two games clear of them now, which is a great position for us to be in.
“We’re five and two now and although we probably didn’t play exactly the way would have liked over the preceding fortnight, I just think we’d come up against two very good outfits in Woorinen and Kerang and we just didn’t quite bring our best footy over those two games.
“It was pretty good to just build a bit of momentum again with a win against a quality opponent and get back to the style of footy that we’d started playing over the first four rounds.”
VOTES
3 – Josh Filo (Lake Boga)
2 – Toby Sheahan (Mallee Eagles)
1 – Matt Taverna (Lake Boga)
MATCH RESULTS
MALLEE EAGLES 4.4 4.7 8.7 10.7.67
LAKE BOGA 1.0 2.1 4.3 11.4.70
GOALS – MALLEE EAGLES – Ethan Pinchen 4, Zac O’Meara 2, Jack Shannahan 2, Braidon Bennett, Darcy McGregor 1.
LAKE BOGA – Angus Monfries 3, Nathaniel Holmes-Brown 2, Matt Taverna 2, Jarrod Taylor 2, Wes Harrison 1.
BEST – MALLEE EAGLES – Toby Sheahan, Harry Allen, Billy O’Meara, Braidon Bennett, Ayden Tessari, Ethan Pinchen
LAKE BOGA – Joshua Filo, Jacob Simpson, Oliver Rohde, Matt Taverna, Cameron Johnson, Brady Hogan
