Four Points All That Matters For Tigers

The Tigers got the job done at North Hobart on Saturday afternoon, but as Josh Duggan writes, it was a match with clear parallels to the previous meetings between the two clubs this season. 

Last time Kingborough and North Hobart faced off, the Tigers came away empty-handed in a shock result at the Twin Ovals, and for long stretches on Saturday at North Hobart Oval, this one looked like possibly heading down the same path.

After three hotly-contested quarters, the Tigers held strong in the fourth quarter though, containing the Demons well, and breaking through for their third win of the year.

Coach Trent Baumeler commented earlier in the week that his side’s Round eight loss to the Demons had sparked his side into gear after some poor early season form saw them spinning their wheels on the start line.

“That’s two out of our last three which we’ve been able to win, which I think is a really good stepping stone to where we’re wanting to go as a club,” Baumeler said after the match.

“It was very similar to round one [when the two sides played each other at this venue], I think we had two 10-minute patches where we were able to kick multiple goals in a row, which ended up being the margin.”

“We had patches where, particularly offensively, we were really good and looked quite potent; but defensively we probably would have wanted to get a bit more right over the four quarters.

This wasn’t the greatest of performances from the yellow and black, but the Tigers did enough at the right times to claw their way over the line, and coming home with the four points is all that really matters for a side needing late-season results to validate their season-long effort.

Forward Mitch Carter was crucial, kicking four crucial goals; including a few in a First Half spell up forward, and the long bomb from the centre square which sealed the win.

That final quarter surge to put the result beyond doubt came just after young Demon Bailey Walker was knocked out and stretchered off the field; a small break in play occurred, in which the Tigers’ leaders played a big role in settling the ship

“You could see the boys huddling out there as a group together, and then Jake Doran set our backline really well behind the ball… I thought we played that last five minutes of the game out really well and finished it off,” Baumeler said.

Will Campbell, Luke Graham and Lachlan Watt all continued their consistent 2018 campaigns for the Tigers, while Baxter Norton maintained his impressive form since returning to the Demons from Mariners and Allies duties.

The Tigers will now face North Launceston at home, while the Demons will travel to Windsor Park to take on the Blues.

North Hobart                   3.1,  6.4,  8.4,  9.4  (58)

Tigers                                  4.3,  7.8,  9.12,  11.17  (83)

GOALS

North Hobart : T. Willmott 1, S. Caswell 1, T. Reeves 1, C. Kilpatrick 1, B. Norton 1, N. Lee 1, M. Woods 1, J. Barwick 1, H. Williams 1

Tigers : L. Graham 3, W. Campbell 3, L. Watt 2, H. Thompson 1, M. Carter 1, S. Duigan 1

BEST

North Hobart : B. Norton, T. Reeves, H. Williams, C. Ransom, N. Lee, B. Tilbury

Tigers : M. Carter, J. Doran, H. Thompson, L. Watt, B. Gordon, L. Graham