From the Border Mail
OLD habits die hard. That’s what Albury showed last night with a typically stubborn win against Lavington.
The Tigers, who ran out 12-point winners in the season-opener under lights, refused to roll over despite numerous challenges from the Panthers.
Lavington, which burst out of the blocks early, led at the first and second changes, and again with less than 10 minutes to play.
But late goals from new co-captain Luke Daly and Josh Maher proved enough to seal the hard-fought victory.
Albury co-coach Daniel Maher lauded the club’s winning mentality last night.
“We just ask everyone to play a role and win more contests than they lose,” he said.
“It’s pretty basic.
“We only asked for four points tonight.
“That’s all we wanted.
“It’s a really good start and exactly what we’re after.”
Maher was quick to warn the rest of the competition about Lavington’s potential.
“They’re a lot bigger and stronger this year,” he said.
“They’re going to beat some good sides.
“We weren’t expecting it to be a high-scoring game of footy and we knew we’d have to grind it out.
“I think in the first half they really showed us up in areas that we really pride ourselves on.
“Everyone talks about their press and how they nullify the opposition but they can really move the footy.”
Lavington coach James Saker, the Panthers’ best in defeat, said the result was a hard one to swallow.
“The immediate thought is it’s a devastating result because I thought we achieved everything we set out to do,” Saker said.
“We met our benchmarks.
“The game was there to be taken but we couldn’t capitalise.
“We just didn’t have the polish that the top two have had over the past few years.
“But I’m sure if we keep meeting those benchmarks we’ll win more games than we lose.”
Luke Wells and Dean Polo were both solid on debut for the Tigers, but Matt Shir’s first game for the club was short-lived.
He suffered a bruised heel and sat out most of the contest.
But with the week off ahead of their second round clash with Corowa-Rutherglen, Maher isn’t overly concerned by Shir’s injury.
“We’ll just manage it this week,” he said.
