Magpies make off with jewels of the Tiger den

By Oliver Shedden and Owen Sinclair

Jun 2, 2025

Ben Ryan and Hunter Verhoeven fly in the marking pack in Saturday's clash with the Magpies. Credit: Bruce McKean. Photo by Contributed

Following off the back of its 104-pt downing to The Road last week, Cobram has suffered a round eight lashing at the talons of a classy Moama outfit.

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It was always going to boil down to a tight contest between the premiership contenders at Scott Oval, and that was the case in the first quarter.

Cobram drew first blood, but it was one way traffic once Moama got on the board with a goal, as it launched four behinds in the back half of the quarter to take a two-point lead at the first break.

The Tigers found their rhythm in the second half with a pair of goals, while the Magpies struggled to kick straight, adding 1.4 to the tally to fall a point behind at half-time.

Following the major break, both sides found greater attacking rhythm, with Moama fixing its accuracy issues and booting 5.1 to romp back into the lead despite repeat determined efforts through the corridor by Cobram’s Ryan Mele.

Cobram wasn’t about to give up easily, adding 4.3 to its own tally in the third term, bringing the margin to three points in favour of the Magpies at the start of the fourth term.

Moama’s defence held up down the stretch, limiting the Tigers to 1.1, while down the other end the visitor’s attack flourished, finishing with a 3.1 effort.

Rhys Drennan looks to move beyond Cobram's Kyle Coates. Photo by Rechelle Zammit

This last push put the Magpies over the top, running away from round eight with a 15-point victory on Cobram’s 8.7 (55) to Moama’s 10.10 (70).

A returned Ben Ryan did the most damage for the Tigers in front of goal, kicking four majors.

He was joined by Jackson Trengove (best on ground), Jake Hodgkin, Luca Allen, Hunter Hardwidge and Matteo Allen as the Tigers’ best.

The Tigers take on bottom-placed Barooga for a round nine derby next Saturday at Scott Oval.

Reserves

In the reserves action, a first-quarter onslaught from the Magpies left the Tigers stumbling and scratching for answers, with Cobram’s Spiro Vourgaslis (best on ground) eventually proving deadly in front of goal with four majors for the home side.

But despite further efforts from Cobram, Moama ran away with the goods thanks to accuracy in front of goal from Josh Smith (six majors) and Jake Kilmartin (five majors).

The final siren saw the scoreline end with the first upset for the Tigers’ reserves outfit so far this season, with Cobram booting 6.6 (42) to Moama’s 15.8 (98).