From the Shepp News|
Rochester bounced back from last week’s 40-point defeat at the hands of Kyabram with a 24-point win against Tatura in the Goulburn Valley Football League under-18s on Saturday.
Rochester hit the lead early and managed to stay ahead of Tatura in what proved a tight contest all day, before getting on top in the last quarter to take out its second win of the season.
The Tigers tackled well all day, finishing the game with more than 50 tackles and shared the goalkicking load with only Ben Poole kicking more than one of Rochester’s 10 goals.
The win delighted Rochester coach Mick McInnes, particularly after losing to Tatura last season.
‘‘We led all day, but it was close all day as well,’’ McInnes said.
‘‘We’re very happy to get the win, after playing them last year and losing, I was expecting them to be tough and they were, so it was a good win for us.
‘‘Our standouts were Tyler Oliver at half-back, as well as Jed Brain in midfield, but to be fair all our midfielders were great, that’s probably where we won the game.
‘‘We set a target of 10 tackles a game for all the players and we finished the game with over 50, so we’re really happy with how hard the boys are working, the defensive pressure has been great.’’
Tatura coach Joe Minutoli was disappointed to lose such a tight game, suggesting his players did not work as hard as their opponents on the day.
Mooroopna’s Brendan Blythe takes a good mark under pressure from Shepparton’s Riley Michel.
‘‘We were disappointed with the end result,’’ Minutoli said.
‘‘They beat us in and around the stoppages, they were a lot better than us there.
‘‘I was disappointed with some of our defensive work.
‘‘We had seven goalkickers, but they all only kicked one each, we didn’t have a forward that stood up and kicked three or four.’’
Despite the result, Minutoli picked out Sean Martin, who battled all day at centre half-back, as well as Matt Daniel and James Bennett, 15, who impressed on the wing in the early stages.
The Cats’ Josh Carkeek puts the heat on the Bears’ Mitch Brett.
In the other games, Benalla managed a 40-point win over Mansfield, while Shepparton United smashed Shepparton Swans by 97 points to remain unbeaten.
Kyabram outclassed Echuca by 79 points to also remain unbeaten.
Shepparton Bears picked up a 64-point win at Mooroopna.
