Tigers back on track
ROUND nine of Mid Gippsland football saw Mirboo North return to the winner’s list when it defeated Yarragon by 44 points at Tigerland on Saturday.
With half the season gone, the mighty Tigers remain in seventh position on the ladder, one game and 14.60 percentage points behind fifth-placed Trafalgar.
In a spirited opening to the match, Yarragon kicked the first goal after two minutes of play, when Brian Cook marked strongly overhead near the left behind post.
Eight minutes elapsed before Jake Nash replied for Mirboo North, after which Jacob Blair and Cam Le Page combined to ferry the footy to Josh Taylor for its second major.
Deep in the back 50, Dwayne Gunn’s safe marking under pressure was a feature for the Tigers.
Both sides were going in hard for the ball and following successive goals from Nick Pratt and Ben Egan; Yarragon led by five points at quarter-time.
Mirboo North gained the upper hand in the second quarter, with successive goals from Joe Brooks, Darryl Mayman, Luke Palmer, Nash and Shane Peters.
Mitchell Wightman was continually in and under the packs and firing lightning handballs out to his Tiger teammates on the outside.
Jake Cropley, Dean O’Donnell and Brody Hamilton all fought diligently to keep Yarragon within striking distance of Mirboo North.
The Tigers had 73 percent of the play in their forward half and appeared ready to break the contest open at any stage.
Then, against the flow, James Harvey and Brock Neave each scored a goal for the visitors and Mirboo North’s advantage at the main break was reduced to 15 points.
Dom Pinneri goaled early in the third term for the Tigers, but Yarragon’s intensity lifted and subsequent majors to James Harvey and Todd Mann, had the Panthers trailing by 12 points at the last change.
Three times, the Tigers looked for and found Taylor on quality leads, but each of his mid range set shots went wide of the big white sticks.
As soon as the last term was underway, Mirboo North’s hard running and brilliant linking up allowed the Tigers to run over the top of their tiring opponents.
All of a sudden, Yarragon’s structural deficiencies and fitness predicaments were exacerbated by situational awareness issues around the stoppages.
Brooks was palming and punching the ball clear and the Tigers were streaming downfield through Blair, Nash, Hudson Kerr, Wightman, Palmer and Turner’s dominance.
Mirboo North’s pace and fast ball movement had transformed the game in its favor.
Thereafter, Yarragon’s house of cards collapsed and a meltdown was in progress.
The Panthers had serious leg speed problems; their ineffective game plan execution quickly turned into a scheme of disarrangement and a pathway to self destruction.
This was a sound and forceful display by Mirboo North, involving systematised transitional options and balanced flexibility operatives that Yarragon could no longer counter.
Veteran defender Paul Harvey held some well judged marks on the last line for the Panthers, but they weren’t enough to hold the Tigers at bay.
Brayden Wilson, Taylor, Turner, Nash and finally Le Page registered unanswered goals that extended Mirboo North’s winning margin to 44 points.
The final score was Mirboo North 13.15.93 defeated Yarragon 7.7.49.
Following this weekend’s Queen’s Birthday break, Mirboo North travels to Thorpdale where it meets the fourth placed Blues in a crucial match for both clubs.
Reach: Josh Taylor lunges for the ball in the Seniors match against Yarragon on Saturday.
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Posted by Sarah Vella on Jun 6 2017. 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
