THE Mallee Eagles again showed why they are considered the team to beat this season, with a commanding 114-point win over the previously unbeaten Koondrook-Barham on the weekend.
With teams going into the match having not tasted defeat this season, it was the Eagles who dominated proceedings from the start, with an eight-goal to one opening term helping to effectively end the match as a contest at quarter time.
It didn’t get any easier for the Raiders, as the home side continued their onslaught in the second quarter having opened up an 81-point lead at the main break, before going on to win 27.13 (175) to 9.7 (61).
Koondrook-Barham coach Marcus Demaria was clearly disappointed, with his young and developing team proving no match for last year’s preliminary finalists.
“It was a bit of a reality check for us, we were nowhere near them,” Demaria said.
“We allowed them to do whatever they liked, they dominated from start to finish and it’s fair to say we have some work to do.
“In saying that, credit to the Mallee Eagles, they were all class on every line.”
Mallee Eagles co-coach Brent Macleod was delighted with his team’s performance.
“I think collectively we were just ready to play, we moved the footy better in transition and we capitalised on turnovers a lot better than we have been,” Macleod said.
“Our game is evolving each week and we want to keep improving, we know we aren’t the finished product just yet.
“To be honest, the midfield battle was pretty even, in fact it might have even been in Koondrook-Barham’s favour, but just our depth on the peripheries with our wings, half forwards, we have a good balance across the board.
“We seemed to win the 50-50 contests, which makes a massive difference and that helped us get the footy going our way.”
The Eagles were without key forward Darcy Hourigan, who was a late withdrawal, however his absence did little to slow the home side’s scoring capacity, with Andrew Mead-Harding (seven goals) and Macleod (six goals) both hitting the scoreboard.
“It was really positive that we were able to find different avenues to goal and for those avenues to be effective, just through lowering our eyes and hitting up through the top of our forward 50,” Macleod said.
“While scoring is important, it’s also pleasing for us to be able to show that we have a lot of diversity in our game.
“It just shows that we’re not one dimensional with our key targets, we’re able to work our way through the game on transition with the ball in hand.
“Our back six were also extremely solid down back, they’re really rock solid down there and they haven’t been beaten at this stage.”
Along with Mead-Harding and Macleod up forward, the Eagles were also well served by Isaiah Bull, Zac O’Meara and Tom McGregor, who were all named among Mallee’s better players, along with Matt Rankine and Toby Sheahan.
Despite conceding 40 scoring shots, the Raiders were able to fight back after half-time, with Koondrook-Barham registering 16 scoring shots of their own for the match, with Lee Dale, Benji Neal,
Jacob Barrington, Matt Bilton, Harry Bremner and Lachlan Bates named as their best players.
The news wasn’t all good for the Mallee Eagles though, with Brady Fordham and Joe Halloran suffering knocks which will have them in some doubt for next Saturday’s blockbuster encounter with
Woorinen, who also find themselves sitting 3-0 heading into the must win game.
Koondrook-Barham on the other hand will host a rejuvenated Kerang next Saturday, with the Raiders needing to win in order to retain their place in the top five.
VOTES
3 – Isaiah Bull (Mallee Eagles)
2 – Andrew Mead-Harding (Mallee Eagles)
1 – Matt Rankine (Mallee Eagles)
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| Mallee Eagles | 8.5 | 16.6 | 23.8 | 27.13 | 175 |
| Koondrook-Barham | 1.1 | 3.1 | 6.4 | 9.7 | 61 |
