LAKE Boga returned to the winners’ list in style, with a strong four-quarter display in a 49-point win over Tyntynder at the weekend.
The 14.11 (95) to 6.10 (46) victory puts the Magpies third on the Central Murray ladder and sets up a mouth-watering encounter with second-placed Balranald at Greenham Park this Saturday.
Ahead of their clash with one of the form team’s of the competition, Lake Boga showed their best is good enough to compete with the top teams.
Magpies joint coach Angus Monfries was confident his side was up to the challenge of beating the Roos.
“(Balranald) are a good side and have been playing some good footy this year, I think it’ll be a real test for us next week, but we’re looking forward to it and I know we’ll be up for it,” Monfries said.
“We’ve played some good footy in patches this season, but today was probably our best performance of for the year in terms of playing a full four quarters.”
Lake Boga set the tone from the opening quarter, with a five-goal-to-two term giving the home side a handy quarter-time lead – a position they never relented from.
While the Magpies took full advantage of the windy conditions in the first quarter, the same cannot be said for Tyntynder in the second, with the visitors kicking an inaccurate 1.6 for the term and failing to make their opportunities in front of goal.
The Lake Boga midfield controlled the game around the stoppages, with Jake Warren, Tyle Williams, Matthew Payne and Nathaniel Holmes-Brown continuously in the play.
They were helped by the dominance of Jacob Simpson in the ruck, who was instrumental in giving his midfielders first use of the ball.
Monfries said post-game his team’s ability to win the contested ball was a big focus.
“It obviously starts on the inside for us, our ability to spread from stoppage and get the ball on the outside is a key focus and was something we did well today,” Monfries said.
“The work rate of some of our onballers today was fantastic, along with our pressure on their ball carriers.”
While Lake Boga had 10 individual goalkickers, Tyntynder had just three, with the returning Jason Eagle again the dominant figure up forward with four goals.
While Eagle had his moments of brilliance, he was also well held by Matt Taverna and the Bulldogs were at times guilty of being too Eagle conscious – a problem that beset them last season.
It was Tyntynder’s inability to hit targets consistently that let them down most however, with the at-times fierce pressure coming from their opposition, combined with the windy conditions, making clean ball movement difficult at times.
The Crowe brothers, Cayden and Patrick, were strong in defence, along with Matthew Gillbee, while Josh Stone and Elia Ware did their best keep the Bulldogs in the game.
While Lake Boga may face a tough task this Saturday against Balranald, Tyntynder’s assignment will be even more onerous, with the Bulldogs set to clash with the reigning premiers Kerang in a match they can ill-afford to lose.
FINAL SIREN
| LAKE BOGA | 5.4 | 6.8 | 9.10 | 14.11 | 95 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TYNTYNDER | 2.0 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 6.10 | 46 |
VOTES
3 – Jake Warren (Lake Boga)
2 – Tyle Williams (Lake Boga)
1 – Jacob Simpson (Lake Boga)
