A 10-goal haul from full-forward Darcy Hourigan has helped the Mallee Eagles record a dominant 122-point win over Balranald at Greenham Park on the weekend.
Hourigan proved unstoppable in the visitors 22.17 (149) to 3.9 (27) victory, with the Eagles locking down second spot on the ladder with their fifth win of the season.
His performance came on the back of a dominant midfield display from the Eagles, with Matt Rankine continuing his strong early season form for his new club.
But it was Hourigan who was the match-winner, with Mallee Eagles co-coach Harry Allen impressed with his key forward’s output on Saturday after missing two rounds with injury a fortnight ago.
“He (Hourigan) returned last weekend and it took him a bit to get in the game, but he certainly found his feet on Saturday and it was a really good performance from him,” Allen said.
“We certainly missed him a little bit, he played round one and he hurt it right at the start of round two and then we didn’t see him again until last Saturday against Cohuna.
“He still played well against Cohuna but I suppose, particularly against a good side and in a big game, it probably just took him that game to get his head around it and find his feet again.
“I think he was pretty happy to get amongst them and I suppose it shows how important he is to our structures.”
The Eagles dominated from start to finish, outscoring the Roos nine goals to two in the first half, before kicking six unanswered goals in the third term.
It was a performance which pleased Allen, particularly in the second half.
“I think the first half was a bit where we were playing pretty good footy; we just lost that little bit of excitement within the group,” he said.
“Anytime Balranald did something good they were up and about, so at half time we just made some corrections.
“But then after half time it was more like a Lalbert game. We played our game and had a lot of territory advantages and obviously the scoreboard reflected that in the end.
“Balranald certainly made us work for it in patches, particularly in the second quarter though, but we probably had just a bit too much depth and just a bit too much class across the ground.
“They had Henness and Hartman that can obviously use the ball well, but they were probably a bit too far in between with help from a few of their other guys, so they just broke down on their transition players.
“But in saying that, we’ve felt like we’ve done that to a lot of sides this year, and we bring our pressure particularly around the contest, and even if they happen to get a quick kick, our backs have been super at just picking it off, and then we rebound and away we go.”
Rankine was also among the Eagles’ better players, with the midfielder/forward winning plenty of the ball around the ground, with Harry McGregor also good in defence, and Ethan Pinchen, Toby Sheahan and Wes Bennett also among the Eagles best.
Balranald on the other hand were well served by Seth Connell, Daniel Harris, Tim Marsh, Ryan Middlebrook and youngsters Cruz Jolliffe and Jack Helgeland.
The Mallee Eagles will host Tyntynder this Saturday at the Lalbert Recreation Reserve, while Balranald will travel to Kerang to take on the Blues.
SCORES
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final Score |
| Balranald | 1.3 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 27 |
| Mallee Eagles | 5.3 | 9.6 | 15.9 | 22.17 | 149 |
VOTES
3 – Darcy Hourigan (Mallee Eagles)
2 – Matt Rankine (Mallee Eagles)
1 – Harry McGregor (Mallee Eagles)
