KERANG’S unbeaten start to the season continued with a dominant 56-point victory over Lake Boga on Saturday afternoon.
The 11.14 (80) to 3.6 (24) result, the ninth Blues win of the season, was set up thanks to a seven-goal to one second half.
Despite the home side kicking with the wind in the opening term, the reigning premiers ensured scores were level at the first break, before opening up a 15-point lead by half time.
Kerang coach Troy Coates was relatively pleased with his side’s performance, apart from the second term.
“I was really happy with our first quarter, it was about a four-to-five goal wind that they were kicking with … and to keep the scores level was huge for us,” Coates said.
“But then we probably didn’t capitalise enough when we had the advantage either – our second quarter was pretty poor.
“Across the whole game, I felt we played 10 minutes of poor footy in the second quarter, but outside of that we played well.”
Kerang controlled the play for much of the second half, especially through the midfield, with Ryan Gillingham, Rylee Smith, Marty Kelly, Josh Nitschke and Sam Heavyside all having influential periods, as the Blues’ superior fitness was once again on show.
“We rotate really well, with a number of guys going through the middle, which I think helps our boys stay fresher the longer a game goes on,” Coates said.
“Teams are coming out really hard and aggressive against us in the first half each week, which is what you’d expect, but as the game goes on, our running game and our fitness comes into play a bit more.
“(Lake Boga are) a good contested team and have some bigger bodies in the midfield, so we had a big focus on matching it at the contest against them, but then our ability to run and create on the outside was probably one of the differences in the end.”
Lachlan Ross was sensational in his second game back from injury, the running half-back setting up many attacking forays from the defensive half, while Michael Dalrymple’s transformation into a key forward continues, the assistant coach again providing a strong marking target inside 50.
Angus Monfries is another who has had a change of role this season, the Lake Boga coach playing across half-back, where he was again prominent, along with Lochie Laing, Nathaniel Holmes-Brown, Jake Warren and Ryan Fox.
While Kerang will enjoy a week off this Saturday, Lake Boga face a a resurgent Swan Hill, with a loss potentially catastrophic for a team who already find themselves a game outside the top five.
FINAL SIREN
| Lake Boga | 1.3 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kerang | 1.3 | 4.8 | 7.9 | 11.14 | 80 |
VOTES
3 – Lachlan Ross (Kerang)
2 – Ryan Gillingham (Kerang)
1 – Michael Dalrymple (Kerang)
