Atkins clinic gives Maroons tough win

A dominant final quarter by midfielder Darcy Atkins gave Stony Creek an important 77-50 win over Toora at Toora Football Ground on Saturday.

The midfielder had been tagged tightly all day before coming alive in the fourth and leading his team home.

“Brett Mitchell coached well and tagged Darcy throughout the game, which made the play pretty congested,” Maroons coach Scott Anderson said.

“He put on a clinic in the final quarter though; he just wore them down and gave us a lot of opportunities.”

The game began a tight contest, with Stony Creek able to withstand the Magpies’ attacks, holding them to only three behinds for the first term.

Toora were up to the challenge too though, pressuring well and only going down 3-12 into the first break.

“I would’ve said it was quite an ugly first half to be honest,” coach Anderson said.

“It was pretty scrappy and they didn’t let us open the game up and run.”

With Atkins being held well and players like Dyson, Baxter and Green all making their presence felt around the ground and on the scoreboard, Toora started to look dangerous.

As a result, Stony Creek took a slim 25-20 lead into the main break.

The Magpies kept up the high pressure inside and Stony Creek could only match it, scrapping for each bit of clean possession.

With Toora pressing both on the field and on the scoreboard, Troy Sinclair and Matija Sageti, recent inclusions into the senior side, stood up.

They provided stability and efficient ball use when Stony needed it and helped their team maintain an 11-point lead at the final break.

“They haven’t played much for us this year so to see them perform so well really pleased me,” coach Anderson said.

With Toora experiencing some injuries and down on rotations, the Maroons and Atkins took advantage, running the ball fast through the corridor and the wings and giving their forwards great delivery.

From this, Nolan kicked his third to cap off the game and give the away side a 27-point win.

“I was happy with our run and carry, it was too much for them in the last term,” coach Anderson said.

The Maroons will have a light week on the track as they prepare for Fish Creek away, while Toora will hope to recover in time for Tarwin.

Seniors: Toora 6.14.50 defeated by Stony Creek 11.11.77.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Jun 25 2019. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry