Cobram's Luca Allen and Numurkah's Jordan O’Dwyer contest for the footy.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Cobram may have entered its round five clash with Numurkah undefeated, but that didn’t mean the contest at Numurkah Showgrounds was any less fierce.
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With key defender and skipper Sam Beasley and brother Harry Beasley relegated to the sideline thanks to injury, there was only so much the Tigers could conjure in terms of leadership on-field.
Free kicks given away to the opposition on several occasions gave the home side the edge by the half-time siren. With a seven-point lead, the hosts looked to seal the deal in the second half.
But the tables turned in the Tigers’ favour in the third quarter, with efforts in front of goal from Ben Ryan and Fergus Pinnuck, but a physical contest saw players on both sides go down.
Cobram’s Tim Garlick was escorted off after a third-quarter head knock, while Lucas Roberts limped off later in the fourth term.
Cobram's Lucas Roberts celebrates.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Another Ryan special before the full-time siren crowned the Tigers victors with the score reading 7.5 (47) to 10.9 (69) Cobram’s way.
“I think we were pretty happy to get the four points. It was a pretty physical contest, and they definitely took it right up to us. They had control for a good part of the first half, and we were lucky enough in the second half that things opened up for us,” Cobram coach Mark Meyland said after the match.
Despite the deficit at half-time, Meyland said he didn’t think the side was out of the game.
But the Tigers’ apparent lack of discipline on the field — a subject of discussion at the half-time break — proved to be a thorn in the Tigers’ side until the second half.
“We just started to string the ball together a bit better, we started to use the spread of the game and got a bit of a running game going, which we lacked a bit in the first half,” Meyland said.
“The back six were quite good, and the midfield did what they had to do.
“I was really happy with Tom Corso, he played a small forward role, but his defensive side of things was just exceptional yesterday.”
Jackson Trengove, Thomas Corso, Timothy Garlick, Tyron Baden, Hunter Hardwidge and Alec Ritchie were named best-on-ground for Cobram.
After a bye this weekend, the Tigers face ninth-placed Tongala at Scott Oval.
Round seven the weekend after will see the Tigers face Congupna, who sit comfortably atop the ladder with a margin of almost 500 percentage points.
“I suppose we’ve set up to where we need to be, but we’ve got a big block ahead of us. We’ve got a solid four games after the break,” Meyland said.
Reserves
Reserves action saw a dominant Cobram outfit pay a visit to Numurkah, where the Tigers left little in doubt about their strength in round five of the Carlton Draught Cup.
The Tigers cruised to a six-goal lead by half-time (3.2-9.2) thanks to a goal-kicking vendetta from Hunter Verhoeven (six goals) and Koby Withers (three goals).
Despite a third quarter resurgence from the Blues, it was too little, too late.
Cobram took a neat 63-point win, 7.4 (46)-17.7 (109), to go in to round six undefeated.
Best-on-ground for Cobram were Daniel Clarke, Jack Hay, Hunter Verhoeven, Callum Hulley, Daniel Ellis and Archie Evans.
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