The Murray Bushrangers have maintained their top three position on the TAC Cup ladder with a 10 point victory against the Gippsland Power at the Wangaratta Showgrounds. After receiving several days of heavy rain; a hard slog was expected but the ground was in good condition and the Bushrangers led by a five goal haul from Josh Schache notched up a great victory over a strong opponent.
The first term was a tight affair with both sides gaining momentum during the term but both teams could only score 1 goal and went into the first change level. Ethan Boxall back from a finger injury was lively and kicked the Bushrangers first goal. Nick Coughlan was a rock in defence and teamed well with Ryan Garthwaite who blanketed All Australian small forward Ben Ainsworth. Young guns Jy Simpkin and debutant Harry Morrison played crucial roles and their decision making highlighted their excellent games.
The second term saw the Murray Bushrangers kick three goals to two to start to break away from a hard hitting highly competitive Power outfit. The Murray team led by 7 points at the main break; on the back of the hard grinding play of Isaac Wallace who continually won the ball in tight contests and moved the ball to advantage from stoppages. Along with Morrison, Matt Neagle in his debut showed he was highly competitive and demonstrated elusive skills at times.
The third term saw the Gippsland Power reverse the second term and luckily they kicked six behinds and just 2 goals to lead by 4 points at three quarter time. Josh Schache who kicked two goals in the first three terms was dangerous up forward but a flooding of numbers didn’t help his opportunities. The defence of Coughlan, Garthwaite and Co pressured the Power forwards and forced many rushed behinds during the term.
The final quarter saw the Bushranger break away on the back of a Schache attack when the key forward kicked three final term goals to see the Bushrangers to another victory on the road to September action. Mitch King was good in the ruck and around the ground as he took a multitude of marks in the last line of defence.
The only downside for the day was a hand injury to Will Brodie in the opening minutes of the clash which saw him ruled out of action. The Murray Bushrangers head to Deakin Reserve in Shepparton this Sunday to clash with the Western Jets in Round 14 action. The Bushrangers were without Clayton Oliver (Richmond), Dylan McDonald and Lachlan Tiziani (Greater Western Sydney) who played with VFL and NEAFL teams and performed well at the next level
By Stephen Hicks
MURRAY BUSHRANGERS: 1-3 4-5 5-6 9-6-60
GIPPSLAND POWER: 1-3 3-4 5-10 6-14-50
GOALS: JOSH SCHACHE (SEYMOUR) 5, ETHAN BOXALL (WODONGA RAIDERS) 2, JY SIMPKIN (MOOROOPNA) 1, JAKE MARSHALL (DENILIQUIN) 1
BEST:JOSH SCHACHE (SEYMOUR), JY SIMPKIN (MOOROOPNA), RYAN GARTHWAITE (COROWA RUTHERGLEN), NICK COUGHLAN (ALBURY), MITCH KING (WODONGA), HARRY MORRISON (BENALLA), ISAAC WALLACE (WODONGA)
Last Modified on 27/07/2015 10:05