WOORINEN returned to the winners’ list in a big way, with a crushing 93-point win over Koondrook-Barham at Tigerland.
The home team didn’t have things all their own way, after the Raiders appeared up for the fight in taking a three-point lead into quarter time.
It was all one-way traffic from that point onwards however, with Woorinen booting 16 of the last 18 goals to completely blow the visitors away 18.21 (129) to 5.6 (36).
While the signs were promising for the River Raiders in the first 30 minutes, they quickly fell back into old habits.
Woorinen’s onballers completely stifled the opposition’s ball movement and forcing them into constant skill errors with their well-renowned pressure.
Woorinen coach Marcus Demaria was pleased with the result but also full of praise for Koondrook-Barham, especially the manner in which they started full of running.
“We didn’t use the ball that cleanly, but it was an OK win,” Demaria said.
“I thought Koondrook-Barham were pretty good early on and then we were just able to break the game open by winning more contested ball.
“Our pressure wasn’t quite there in the first quarter and they were pretty clean with the ball.
“Credit to them, they started off really well and had our guys under a fair bit of pressure at the start.”
Josh Domaille led from the front in a dominant four-quarter performance from the Tigers captain, while Robbie Miller and Lachlan Warburton also helped turn the game around.
Demaria was perhaps most impressed by the form of Mitchell Uhlhorn, Matt Gardner and Angus Butterfield, three defenders standing up and producing their best football in the absence of four of the usual starting back six.
“We were pretty inexperienced down back, but in saying that it was a good opportunity for those guys to step up and lead the way,” Demaria said.
“We had plenty of the footy and we had some good passages of play, but I think we need to do a bit of work on our goalkicking.
“We had plenty of it in our front half, but just failed to make the most of our opportunities at times I’d suggest.”
The Raiders were well served by Colin McVeigh, who produced perhaps his best game for the season, along with forward Cameron Moore, who finished with three goals for the visitors.
Jack Thrum, Harley Burmeister-Lyons, Patrick Goble and Reagan Hamilton were also among the team’s better players.
FINAL SIREN
| Woorinen | 2.3 | 6.10 | 12.13 | 18.21 | 129 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Koondrook Barham | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 5.6 | 36 |
VOTES
3 – Josh Domaille (Woorinen)
2 – Mitchell Uhlhorn (Woorinen)
1 – Lachlan Warburton (Woorinen)
