IN front of a massive crowd on Saturday at Cohuna Recreation Reserve, Kerang sent an ominous warning to the rest of the competition with an emphatic 66-point victory over the previously undefeated Cohuna Kangas.
The standard of the game befitted a final, as players of both sides gave their all in the highly anticipated encounter between the best two teams of 2022.
Spectators witnessed some of the best football seen in many years as the ball moved at great pace from end to end with players of both sides displaying exceptional skill.
In the opening term the Kangas kicked with the aid of a two-goal breeze, enabling them to do most of the attacking. The opening goal was a clever piece of work when Kangas young gun Patrick Doyle soccered off the ground in the goal square.
The Blues’ defence was under continual attack as Kangas onballers Joel Helman, Tom Toma and Jarrod Findlay drove the ball out of the midfield deep into their forward line. The Blues stood tall however, with the ever-reliable Michael Dalrymple, Rylee Smith and Jesse Clark rebounding the ball continually from deep in defence – a significant effort given the extreme pressure.
At the other end of the ground Daniel Paterson was knocking up winning the footy off half-back for the Kangas and received great support from the experienced Tom Metherell.
But late goals by CMFNL leading goalkicker Rhys Free and Daniel Coates meant that the Blues went to the first break 22 points down.
Kerang joint coach Bryce Curnow pointed out a few home truths to his charges at quarter-time, telling them that they needed to get first use of the ball in the midfield and ensure they played on at all costs.
His players responded brilliantly. Troy Davis won the first tap-down to Sam Heavyside, who combined with Curnow to enable Brad Pay to kick Kerang’s opening goal after the break. Pay became the difference in the game as he showed his class, kicking a further two quick goals, setting the Blues alight.
Kerang dominated the rest of the term with Heavyside kicking two majors and singles by Curnow, Hayden Hall and Caleb Nitschke.
The Blues had runners all over the ground. Ryan Gillingham was in everything and his silky skills and fitness made him an exceedingly difficult player to man up on. Other players to stand out were Heavyside, Smith, Michael Runciman, Nick Stagg and Marty Kelly.
The Kangas suffered a major blow when Toma left the ground midway through the term with a hamstring strain, depriving them of some much-needed run on the large ground. Dylan Johnstone was a target up forward, booting two goals in a single-handed effort to try and lift his teammates and had a hand in their third goal for the term, enabling Free to kick his second for the game. The match had seen a dramatic shift in momentum with the Blues taking an eight-point lead at the long break.
The Blues also dominated the third term, kicking four unanswered goals by Troy Coates, Curnow and livewire Sean Hunter (two).
The Kangas tried hard to get back into the contest through great individual efforts from Helman, Findlay, Ben Archard, Metherell, Paterson and Coates but with Free being blanketed by Dalrymple and Johnstone having to come too far forward from goal to have any real potency, the Blues held an impressive 33-point lead at the last change.
The Kangas tried hard in the last term but, with Toma off the ground and Helman sore from continually sacrificing his body in on-ball contests, there was no coming back.
The class of the Blues was there for all to see as they piled on five unanswered goals. Pay finished with another major to give him four for the day and took best-on-ground honours.
Kerang have now stamped themselves as the team to beat for this year’s flag, with injury and illness maybe the only thing that could stop them. The Kangas are a quality team and under the guidance of the experienced Neil Bradley will regroup and get a number of their experienced players back over the coming weeks.
VOTES
3 – Brad Pay (Kerang)
2 – Ryan Gillingham (Kerang)
1 – Michael Dalrymple (Kerang)
MATCH RESULTS
COHUNA KANGAS 3.4 6.6 6.9 6.11.47
KERANG 0.1 8.3 12.7 17.11.113
GOALS – COHUNA KANGAS – Rhys Free, Dylan Johnstone 2, Daniel Coates, Patrick Doyle 1.
KERANG – Bradlee Pay 4, Bryce Curnow, Sean Hunter 3, Sam Heavyside 2, Troy Coates, Hayden Hall, Caleb Nitschke, Josh Nitschke, Samuel Nitschke 1.
BEST – COHUNA KANGAS – Jarrod Findlay, Christopher Anderson, Brenton Conforti, Dylan Johnstone, Joel Helman, Ben Archard.
KERANG – Bradlee Pay, Troy Davis, Martin Kelly, Michael Dalrymple, Rylee Smith, Josh Nitschke.
