A 10-goal haul from veteran Brad Pay highlighted Kerang’s dominant 166-point win obliteration of Tooleybuc-Manangatang.
The 28.17 (185) to 3.1 (19) result was the Blues’ 12th consecutive win and kept their unbeaten record intact.
Tooleybuc-Manangatang went into the match without several key players due to injury and unavailability, including Josh Williams, John Wardle, Jack Mazzarella, Rory Alexander and Johnathan Marsden.
They were held scoreless in the first term as Kerang dominated all over the ground.
But the day belonged to Pay, with the popular clubman splitting his time between the midfield and forward line.
Having missed last year’s premiership with an achilles injury, the runner-up in last season’s Jack Betts Medal demonstrated he is returning to his brilliant best.
“I was really pleased for him (Pay), he hasn’t had the easiest season with a couple of little niggles in the first half of the year,” Kerang coach Troy Coates said.
“Now that he’s had a good three-week consistent block of training, you can see him starting to move the way he did early last season.
“He’s super dangerous forward for us and even though he kicked 10, he still played on-ball for probably 30 per cent of the game and dominated in the middle as well.”
Midfielder Rylee Smith also a day out, kicking five goals, while Sean Hunter, Jesse Clark, Tyson Clingan and Josh Hann ran amok through the midfield and off half back.
“‘Smithy’ (Smith) is in awesome form and Tyson (Clingan) is another of our onballers who is pushing forward and getting dangerous,” Coates said.
“All of a sudden, our forward line isn’t relying on one or two people.
“We played ‘Langy’ (Nick Lang) forward a bit on the weekend too and he just gives us some height and gives a good contest – we have a bit of flexibility forward of the ball now which makes us dangerous.”
Kerang are perfectly placed for another top two finish with just four home-and-away games remaining.
But the Blues know the challengers are coming.
“We’ve got a bit of a challenging run home, our last four games are against (NNW) United, Cohuna, Balranald and Woorinen,” Coates said.
“All those sides are going to want to knock us off ahead of finals – we’re the hunted now and to be honest, it’s a perfect preparation for us coming into the finals.
“We seem to play our best footy when sides come at us and we’re starting to get a bit of continuity with our side.
“Next week we’ll have a few players return, to the point where we’ll perhaps only have ‘Turk’ (Michael Dalrymple) missing, so we’ll be ready for what they (NNW United) bring.
“They play a fast and exciting brand of footy, it’ll be interesting because we’ll go head to head with them in that sense and see how we go.”
While it was a day to forget for the Saints, there were still some positives, with junior players Rylee Taylor, Kallum Hazlett, Connor Hazlett and Jett Furnell continuing their development. Blake Grant, Ethan Goldfinch, Ryan Domaille and Jaicob Kenny, who came into the match under an injury cloud, were also solid contributors.
Tooleybuc-Manangatang have the bye before meeting Mallee Eagles.
FINAL SIREN
| Kerang | 5.6 | 10.9 | 21.12 | 28.17 | 185 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tooleybuc-Manangatang | -.- | 2.- | 2.- | 3.1 | 19 |
VOTES
3 – Bradlee Pay (Kerang)
2 – Sean Hunter (Kerang)
1 – Rylee Smith (Kerang)
