Border Mail |
A SURPRISE eight-goal haul from Cade Mills helped Corowa-Rutherglen spring the upset of the season on Saturday.
The Roos stunned finals bound North Albury by 13 points at John Foord Oval.
Mills, not renowned for his exploits up forward, started deep in attack for the Roos and it paid dividends.
He put on a clinic, and could have easily kicked 10, as the Hoppers’ late-season form woes continued.
They are now limping into the finals, having lost their past four games
Outgoing Corowa- Rutherglen coach Adrian Pavese was nothing short of pumped after the victory.
“Everything we’ve been practising and trying to put in place came together,” Pavese said.
“The work we’ve been doing at training happened on the paddock.
“We got North Albury at the right time but our boys got some early belief and kept working hard.
“The boys stuck to the task.
“They beat us by 20 goals last time so I’m absolutely rapt with that effort.”
Pavese said the Hoppers’ stand alone clash with Wangaratta Rovers the week before gave his team the chance to prepare for Saturday.
It inspired the move of Mills forward.
“We did our homework,” Pavese said.
“We thought we needed a bit more stability up forward.”
Corowa-Rutherglen set up Saturday’s win by bursting out of the blocks in a front of strong crowd gathered for captain Jamie Seymour’s 150th match, as well as Saturday night’s 2003 premiership reunion.
The Roos led by 21 points at quarter time.
Seymour was ruthless in game 150, Mark Ainley dominated in the clinches while Nathan Rhodes added spark and pace on the outside.
The Roos’ work is far from over, with this week’s clash against Wodonga Raiders still likely to decide the wooden spoon.
That wasn’t even on Pavese’s mind at 5pm on Saturday.
“It’s been a tough year and I just wanted the boys to savour this win,” he said.
“This gives us a lot of confidence but the Raiders are still a good side.
“We do have to win this one, absolutely — we could still finish as high as sixth.”
