BALRANALD survived a late Woorinen comeback to secure their second win of the season – and end a 12-year losing streak.
It was a hard-fought 16-point win at Greenham Park, despite the home side skipping out to a 55-point lead early in the last quarter.
The Roos had kicked seven unanswered second-half goals – three coming from coach Jydon Neagle – but the Tigers refused to throw in the towel.
The visitors responded with six goals to give the large pro-Balranald crowd a fright.
Woorinen ultimately left their run too late, the Roos running out 11.11 (77) to 8.13 (61) winners and a signalling themselves as a genuine finals’ contender.
All the talk in the pre-match lead-up centred around the arrival of Geelong premiership player Nathan Ablett, who pulled on the blue and white stripes for the first time in 2023.
The match didn’t reach any great heights during a dour first half, becoming an error-riddled scrap due to the pressure around the contest applied by both teams.
Both sides also butchered countless opportunities in front of goal.
While Woorinen deployed their usual chip-mark style of football, Balranald went the opposite way, preferring instead to move the ball fast.
The home side were not averse to bringing the ball back through the corridor when going forward either.
Ethan Gant found plenty of the ball through the middle of the ground, as did Matthew Neagle and Tom Salau for the home side, who not only used the ball better than their opposition, but handled the pressure better as well.
The Tigers were plagued by constant turnovers, particularly by foot, with Balranald’s defensive pressure a key factor in their ability to shut down Woorinen’s normally fluid ball movement.
It was reigning Jack Betts Medallist Jydon Neagle, however, that set the Roos alight, with his ball use cutting the Tigers open time and again in the first half.
Neagle then moved to play predominately forward in the second half, where he again proved to be the match winner, kicking three of his side’s seven consecutive goals to all but sink the Tigers’ hopes of victory.
Jaxon Neagle and Josh Hodgson were strong in defence for the Roos, with both players thwarting many of Woorinen’s errant inside 50 entries, while Ian Fuller and Drew Lloyd both looked dangerous rotating through the middle and up forward.
The news wasn’t all good, with Kobe Lloyd likely to be sidelined by a slight hamstring injury, while Woorinen ended the match with concerns over Henry Thompson, who injured an ankle in the second quarter and took no further part in the match.
While Woorinen were outplayed for much of the match, save for the final 20 minutes, one player who could hold his head high was Lachlan Gardner, who toiled manfully all day in the ruck against Jordan Wilkins and Ablett.
Ben Booth, who kept key forward Ben Fuller to just two goals was another Tiger who battled bravely all afternoon, along with Doug Beames, who continued to present and provided a strong lead-up target for the likes of Jye Barry, Josh Domaille and Taylor Cameron to hit up.
FINAL SIREN
| BALRANALD | 1.5 | 4.6 | 8.9 | 11.11 | 77 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WOORINEN | 0.2 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 8.13 | 61 |
VOTES
3 – Jydon Neagle (Balranald)
2 – Ethan Gant (Balranald)
1 – Lachlan Gardner (Woorinen)
