Border Mail |
WODONGA has its sights set on stunning Wangaratta Rovers after a satisfying win over Corowa-Rutherglen on Saturday.
The Bulldogs, competitive in just about every game this season, finally got reward for their recent efforts with a come-from-behind 11-point win over the improved Roos.
And with the Hawks anything but impressive against wooden-spoon favourite Wodonga Raiders, Wodonga now enters that clash at W.J.Findlay Oval with a sniff.
Ben Hollands, who starred with four goals, said the Bulldogs were intent on an upset.
“We need to crack one of these games,” Hollands said.
“We’ve been competitive against all the top sides, basically, and we’re pretty determined to beat one of them.
“It’s always tough down there, they protect their territory pretty well, but the boys really persevered on Saturday.
“It was really satisfying.”
An innaccurate Wodonga trailed by 14 points at quarter-time on Saturday but slowly won back control of the contest.
Neil Reeve’s job in the ruck in the absence of captain Sam Maher was admirable, while Nick and Dylan Beattie both performed strongly.
But it was the performance of 17-year-old Kayne Turner that caught Hollands’ eye.
“I really hope the Murray Bushrangers give him a chance at some stage,” he said.
“He’s a super talented kid who can still improve.
“He’s unbelievably courageous and some of the marks he took for a skinny kid were impressive.
“He knows how to win the footy.”
The Bulldogs benefited by having experienced duo Tyson Gorupic and Ben Heinrich back in the team and gained an added advantaged when veteran Corowa-Rutherglen pair Mark Ainley and Matt Witherden withdrew pre-game.
“We’ve been competitive for a while now but we haven’t been polished enough to win a couple of games we could have,” Hollands said.
“We tried our best to bring ourselves undone at some stages but it was good to hang on.”
