Cobram maintained its perfect start to the season with a gritty 10-point win against local rival Barooga at Scott Oval.
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Despite the Tigers leading by 23 points during the first quarter, the contest was a real grind with the home side leading by no more than eight points at each of the breaks.
The Tigers maintained a slender advantage until the final stages of the fourth quarter when the Hawks kicked ahead, but they could not hold on to the two-point lead with the Tigers kicking two goals in the final few minutes to secure the four points.
Tigers stand-in skipper Cadeyn Williams kicked four goals, as did John Lucas, while Samuel Macheda, Spiro Vourgaslis and Tom McNeill all kicked a couple of goals for the visitors.
The win keeps Cobram equal first, though three narrow victories leaves the Tigers fourth on percentage.
Coach Josh Noonan believes the gutsy wins are positive as he continues to build the winning mentality within the club.
‘‘We have been getting really good starts early, but we kind of fall back a bit and probably get a little too complacent with where our football is at, which isn’t a really good habit,’’ he said.
‘‘We are going to work hard to rectify that and try and push on with these games and instead of just winning, we want to win by eight or 10 goals, so that’s our challenge going forward.
‘‘At times during the game, when you do get questioned or challenged, this group now is starting to learn how to navigate through those scenarios and come away with four points...which is something this club hasn’t done well for the last few years, so it’s not a bad thing it’s a good thing.’’
Plenty of eyes were on Cobram’s new recruit Matt Demaio, who kicked 41 goals for Barooga last year.
The forward only managed a couple of goals, taking his season tally to eight, but he did manage to put the final nail in the Hawk’s coffin with the final goal of the afternoon.
‘‘I am very happy with Matty, he was also playing on an awesome defender in regards to James Hazelman too,’’ Noonan said.
‘‘At times he won his one-on-ones but also delivery to him wasn’t always the best either so for him to finish off with the goal there at the end would have been good for his confidence going forward.’’
As for Barooga, the heart-breaking loss was made all the worse with player-coach James Hazelman stretchered off with a knee injury in the dying stages of the match.
The full severity of the injury is yet to be determined, but he will be unavailable for the Hawks’ round four match at home to Mulwala next weekend.