KERANG continued their unbeaten start to 2022 with a dominant 114-point victory over Koondrook-Barham at the weekend.
The Blues led at every change, despite an abnormally slow start, to record a comfortable win over the bottom-placed River Raiders.
While the home side did what they needed to in order to get the four points, Koondrook-Barham could also be relatively pleased with their first-half performance, showing a level of improvement against the competition’s premier team.
The second half was more like the Kerang that the Central Murray has come to expect this season, with the Blues piling on 16 goals to three after the main break to stamp their authority on the match.
Kerang joint coach Troy Coates was pleased with his team’s second half, while acknowledging his opposition’s effort in the first.
“They came out and had a bit of a crack right from the start – the Iudica brothers were really good for them through the midfield, as was Jack Shannon,” Coates said.
“To be honest, we were really ordinary in the first half and our ball use was pretty sloppy, but we made a few changes after half-time and came out and played some better footy in the second half.
“We were just trying to overuse it a little bit in the first half but we were able to make that correction at the break.”
Sean Hunter continued to show why he will be a player of the future for the Blues with another strong showing up forward.
The 18-year-old booted five goals and after the match was singled out by Coates for his performance.
“He’s lively and a pretty tough match-up up for the opposition up forward, especially with his speed – he’s just helped to add another dimension to our team as we have some genuine speed in our team now with him, Tyson Clingan and Rylee Smith coming into our line-up this season,” Coates said.
The other pleasing aspect to come out of the game was our spread of goalkickers, especially with (Bryce Curnow) out at the moment – it’s something that we’ve worked really hard on throughout the season.”
The Blues’ midfield dominated as expected, with Brad Pay, Marty Kelly and Nick Stagg running amok through the middle, while Lachlan Ross continued his fantastic first season in navy blue across half-back.
For the Raiders, Jack Shannon and Jordan Iudica were among the better players, both onballers trying hard against the swarm of Kerang midfielders. Warren Lolicato, Max Baldissera, Owen Uaongo and veteran Matthew Dean could also be well pleased with their afternoon’s work.
While the home side comfortably secured the four points, it wasn’t all good news. Josh Hann reinjured his hamstring and Scott Pay was unable to play out the game after hurting an Achilles tendon, although the Blues hope the injury will not keep him out for a significant time.
VOTES
3 Votes Sean Hunter (Kerang)
2 Votes Lachlan Ross (Kerang)
1 Votes Bradlee Pay (Kerang)
MATCH RESULTS
KERANG 3.3 6.9 14.12 22.14.146
KOONDROOK-BARHAM 2.1 2.2 4.2 5.2.32
GOALS – KERANG – Sean Hunter 5, Troy Coates 4, Caleb Nitschke 3, Josh Nitschke, Nicholas Stagg 2, Tyson Clingan, Hayden Hall, Brandon Hayes, Martin Kelly, Bradlee Pay, Michael Runciman 1.
KOONDROOK-BARHAM – Warren Lolicato 4, Kye Attwell 1.
BEST – KERANG – Sean Hunter, Lachlan Ross, Bradlee Pay, Martin Kelly, Josh Nitschke, Nicholas Stagg.
KOONDROOK-BARHAM – Jack Shannon, Jordan Iudica, Warren Lolicato, Max Baldissera, Owen Uaongo, Matthew Dean.
