LAKE Boga will play finals for the first time in 12 years after defeating an undermanned Tooleybuc-Manangatang by 91 points at the weekend.
The Magpies dominated the match after half-time, piling on 10 goals to one – including eight unanswered goals in the last quarter – to obliterate the Saints.
With their top-five position at stake following the previous weekend’s 27-point loss to the Mallee Eagles, the Magpie players and the large home crowd went into the match against lowly Tooleybuc-Manangatang knowing that anything less than victory would likely end their season there and then.
Yet with their season on the line, the home side were slow out of the blocks, with a lacklustre opening 30 minutes threatening to derail their season. The Pies led the Saints by just two points at the first change.
That would be as close as Tooleybuc-Manangatang would get, however, as the Lake Boga players responded to coach Shawn Filo’s urgings at the break the game open with a five-goal-to-two second term, starting to gain the ascendancy around the stoppages.
While the third term would be a much tighter affair on the scoreboard, it always felt as though the home side were on the verge of breaking the game open with their pressure lifting around the contests and their continued clearance advantage – thanks mostly to the dominance of ruckman Jacob Simpson.
The only negative in their game to that point had been their forward-50 entries, with their wasteful disposal making life difficult for their forwards Angus Monfries, Dustin Burns and Jayden Lonergan.
That all changed following the three-quarter-time break, as Nathaniel Holmes-Brown’s three-bounce running goal two minutes into the last quarter opened the floodgates. Monfries’ first goal of the match one minute later kick started the celebrations for the black-and-white faithful. That would be the former Essendon and Port Adelaide forward’s last passage of play for the day, resting for the remainder of the last quarter ahead of this Sunday’s elimination final.
While Simpson continued his good form, giving midfielders Joshua Cruse-Filo, Matthew Filo and Holmes-Brown an armchair ride out of the middle and his team the supremacy at the stoppages, it was lively small forward Burns who proved to be the game breaker. The talented youngster kicked a game-high six goals for the Magpies playing deep in attack, with the Tooleybuc-Manangatang defence having no answer to his speed and ability to read the play.
Holmes-Brown was another Magpie to have a significant impact on the outcome, with his ability to run and carry the ball making him as one of his team’s better players on the day, along with Daniel Dzufer, Cruse-Filo and Lonergan.
Although it would have been a disappointing finish to a disappointing season for Dean Helmers and the Saints, there were signs early in the game that they are on the improve, before putting the cue in the rack late.
Tooleybuc-Manangatang were well served by Gareth Grant, who produced a solid four-quarter performance for the Saints. Local youngsters Shane Foley and Harper McNicol were also being named among their club’s better players, along with Richard Wardle, Lachlan Gleeson and Sam Morton.
VOTES
3 Votes Dustin Burns (Lake Boga)
2 Votes Jacob Simpson (Lake Boga)
1 Vote Nathaniel Holmes-Brown (Lake Boga)
MATCH RESULTS
LAKE BOGA 3.5 8.9 10.14 18.22.130
TOOLEYBUC-MANANGATANG 3.3 5.3 6.3 6.3.39
GOALS – LAKE BOGA – Dustin Burns 6, Nathaniel Holmes-Brown, Jayden Lonergan 3, Matt Taverna 2, Andrew Clark, Ryan Fox, Angus Monfries, Jacob Simpson 1.
TOOLEYBUC-MANANGATANG – Johnathan Marsden, Brayden Pitcher, Shylo Smith 2.
BEST – LAKE BOGA – Dustin Burns, Jacob Simpson, Joshua Cruse-Filo, Daniel Dzufer, Nathaniel Holmes-Brown, Jayden Lonergan.
TOOLEYBUC-MANANGATANG – Gareth Grant, Shane Foley, Richard Wardle, Harper McNicol, Sam Morton, Lachlan Gleeson.
