Border Mail |
DEFENDING premier Osborne lived up to its reputation as the sleeping giant of the Hume league with a 200-point mauling of the Murray Magpies at Urana Road Oval on Saturday.
With their stars firing, the Cats buried their opposition in a first-half avalanche, booting 20 goals.
By the final siren the score had blown out to 34.19 (223) to 2.11 (23).
In a ominous sign the Cats were as clinical as they had been all season with utility Darcy Judd producing a dominant display in an eight-goal haul.
The injury prone Judd was playing only his fourth game of the season after joining the Cats over the summer.
The talented tall provided a strong marking target deep in attack with the Cats lacking a focal point in recent weeks.
But in a blow for the Cats, Judd will miss at least a week as he is set to have his wisdom teeth removed during the week.
Hard-working midfielder Luke Heyme, and Nick and Tom O’Connell were also pivotal in the onslaught.
After starting the season slowly, the Cats have strung together six consecutive wins.
Osborne premiership coach Daniel McAlister was rapt to finally be inside the top six on the ladder but was fully aware the Cats face a season-defining stretch over the next month.
“It really was a devastating performance,” McAlister said.
“We needed a significant percentage boost and we were certainly able to achieve that.
“But we are not getting ahead of ourselves and know our finals aspirations will hinge on how we perform against Billabong Crows, Jindera, Lockhart and Howlong over the next month.
“We are starting to get a bit of depth back so it’s pretty exciting at the minute.
“Selection is starting to become difficult each Thursday night and it’s the best position the club has been in all season.”
In a further bonus for the Cats, Luke Adams booted 11 goals after being dropped to the reserves and is in line for a senior recall this week.
The Cats were close to full-strength for one of the rare times this season, missing key defender Trent Haddrill who has undergone a knee reconstruction and Marty Bahr (broken leg).
McAlister hasn’t ruled out one or two more signings before the clearance deadline.
“We are working on a couple more,” he said.
“We are not super confident but you can only chuck your hat into the ring.
“This is our last-ditch effort just to add a bit of depth to our list and it will be interesting how the next couple of weeks unfold.”
Meanwhile Holbrook scored a dominant 131-point victory over a disappointing Walla.
The Hoppers were kept goalless for the opening three terms as Brett Doswell, coach Jarrod Twitt and James Breen ran riot for the Brookers.
Breen kicked eight goals in his biggest haul of the season and has moved within two goals of the lead at the top of the goalkicking table.
