KERANG guaranteed at least a spot in the preliminary final this season with their 71-point win over Tyntynder at the weekend.
The Blues led from start to finish, with five unanswered goals in the last quarter blowing the final score out.
The victory guarantees Kerang will finish on top of the home-and-away ladder. However it came at a cost, with the Blues’ injury list growing ever longer, with Bradlee Pay suffering what appears to be a serious Achilles tendon injury and fellow midfielder Sam Heavyside yet another hamstring strain.
While disappointed with losing two of his key midfielders on the eve of the finals, Kerang coach joint Troy Coates was pleased with his players’ effort in what was a danger game for his side.
“It was a great win – in fact, I felt it was one of the best wins of the season in terms of character for us,” Coates said.
“They came out pretty hard and physical early and were pretty close to full strength on their own home turf. It was pretty greasy and tough conditions early and for us to walk away with a 71-point win was exceptional, to be honest.”
Bryce Curnow was late omission for the Blues, which could have left Kerang exposed up front. However, the visitors instead opted for a change of tactic in their forward line, going with speed instead of height. The adjustment worked a treat, with small forwards Coates and Sean Hunter contributing a game-high three goals each, with returning wingman Rylee Smith kicking two goals after playing predominantly forward.
At the other end of the ground, the dangerous Jason Eagle, who had booted 29 goals from his last three matches, was kept to just two majors for the day, well held by one of the competition’s premier defenders Michael Dalrymple.
While the ability of the Blues’ defence to nullify the influence of Eagle would play a big part in the result, the midfield battle was where the game was going to be won and lost, with Coates giving special praise to two of his main onballers for their performance.
“Our mids, with Marty (Kelly) and ‘Staggy’ (Nicholas Stagg) matched it with (Tyntynder’s) hardness, which was always going to be important,” Coates said.
“In the end, I felt we probably had just a bit too much class for them on the outside, which in the end was the difference.
“We identified that before the game and said it would be won and lost in the midfield, especially on Tyntynder’s ground, which is a smaller ground and it’s a ground you have to be really direct from the midfield on. So if you win that battle, you go a long way to winning the game.”
Josh Dwyer performed well up forward for Tyntynder, while Brock Storer, Tate Hulland, Benjamin Hallam, Andrew Bennett and Ryan Featherby were also named among the Bulldogs’ better players.
Tyntynder will host Balranald in the final round this Saturday in their final tune up before the elimination final, while Kerang will play Swan Hill ahead of the bye in the first week of the finals.
VOTES
3 Votes Nicholas Stagg (Kerang)
2 Votes Martin Kelly (Kerang)
1 Vote Michael Dalrymple (Kerang)
MATCH RESULTS
TYNTYNDER 1.2 3.3 6.4 6.8.44
KERANG 4.4 7.10 12.13 17.13.115
GOALS – TYNTYNDER – Jason Eagle, Marcus Wattie 2, Tate Hulland, Solomon McKay 1.
KERANG – N/A
BEST – TYNTYNDER – Joshua Dwyer, Brock Storer, Tate Hulland, Benjamin Hallam, Andrew Bennett, Ryan Featherby.
KERANG – Nicholas Stagg, Martin Kelly, Michael Dalrymple, Lachlan Ross, Sean Hunter, Josh Nitschke.
