Gutsy Magpies outlast valiant Tigers
By Hamish Spence.
Glenorchy have stayed in touch with the top two, grinding out a 13-point win over the Tigers at the Twin Ovals on Saturday.
The Magpies trailed by a goal at three quarter time, but kicked three unanswered goals in the last, to leave as 10. 8. (68) to 7. 13. (55) winners from an entertaining contest.
The Tigers were great and led at all stages heading into the final quarter but couldn’t stem the tide and overcome the Magpies in the last term, with three injuries hindering the hosts, who never quite managed to fully break away from the Magpies, with a 14-point margin at the start of the second term the biggest margin of the game.
Mathew Dilger quickly kicked off proceedings for the Pies, with a goal at the start of the first quarter. The Tigers quickly responded through Samuel Duigan and Luke Graham, to take the lead. The ball then drifted between both teams attacking halves, with neither side finding the big sticks, leaving the Tigers as eight-point leaders at quarter time.
The second quarter was an entertaining display of footy, with the teams trading the next five goals. The highlights included a great one-handed mark from Elijah Reardon (which he then converted for the first of term), Callen Daly’s goal from the pocket and a classy finish from Ryan Banks-Smith on 50.
Daly (exploding out of the centre) and Banks-Smith then kicked their second goals and the only consecutive goals for the quarter, to reduce the Tigers’ lead to two points at half-time.
Matthew Joseph kicked the first of the third quarter, to give Glenorchy the lead for the first time since the early stages of the opening term. The Tigers quickly responded through Benjamin Donnelly, who finished off a nice passage of play through the middle. Glenorchy livewire Aiden Grace then found the goals, after taking a great lunging chest mark.
The game quickly tied up and it stayed the way for the majority of the term. Luke Graham created some magic just before the siren, when he snapped his second from a tight angle while being tackled, giving the Tigers a six-point lead at the final break.
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The final quarter started with a bang, with Ben Kamaric slotting an incredible goal from the pocket to tie it back up. Aiden Grace then seized the moment, kicking two goals in under a minute, to give Glenorchy the match-winning lead.
The Tigers had limited opportunities to reduce the deficit and were the walking wounded, with Michael Paul (aggravated hamstring), Jarryd Drew (head knock) and Blake McCulloch (rolled ankle), all heading to the bench.
Callen Daly was massive up the ground for Glenorchy, providing a great explosive presence around the contest. He also finished the day with two great goals.
Harrison Gunther was a colossus all day for the visitors. His contested marking was a sight to behold, making him a rock down back for the Pies.
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Lachy Clifford continued his great form so far this season. The grunt and aggression he provided was clear to see and he was involved in several key plays through the middle.
Elijah Reardon looked dangerous anytime the ball came near him, with his impressive work up the ground and in the forward line. He finished with one goal and applied great pressure by laying several tackles.
Glenorchy coach Paul Kennedy said his side knew the game was going to be tough.
“It was a really big game, because the Tigers have been playing some really good footy,” he said.
“We knew it was going to be a really tough game and we knew we really needed to grind it out to get the win. It’s good, they would have been really closing in on us (on the ladder) if they had won today.”
He was proud with the way his team handled a tough second quarter and how they stepped up in the final term.
“Some pretty good players like Daly, Kamaric, and Matt Dilger really stepped up in that last quarter, and Aiden Grace was very good. I thought we asked a lot of Cam Duffy today and he really soldiered on and did a great job.”
Kennedy and his side now look towards a big clash against North Launceston at UTAS Stadium.
“They’ve beaten us I think four times in a row, so it’s a good chance for us to go and make a statement.”
Tigers coach Trent Baumeler was proud with his team’s competitiveness across the whole 120 minutes.
“They fought it out, and probably a good lesson for us about a bit of composure and a bit of conversion. So, probably those two things ended up costing us in the end.”
Baumeler said Glenorchy showed why they’re very good team, with the way they handled the final quarter.
“Those big key moments, they played them really well and so they deserved to get the win.”
“We got close today. We didn’t win, but we were right in the game at the end.”
Tigers: 2.4, 5.6, 7.10, 7.13, (55)
Glenorchy: 1.2, 5.4, 7.4, 10.8, (68)
Goals:
Tigers: L. Graham (2), S. Duigan, E. Reardon, T. Carter, L. Watt, B. Donnelly
Glenorchy: A. Grace (3), C. Daly (2), R. Bank-Smith (2), M. Dilger, M. Joseph, B. Kamaric
Bests:
Tigers: R. Matthews, K. Lovell, E. Reardon, L. Clifford, B. Rees, M. Gardner
Glenorchy: C. Daly, T. Duggan, B. Kamaric, R. Banks-Smith, J. Bowden, H. Gunther
Up Next:
The Tigers host Launceston next Saturday at 2:00pm at the Twin Ovals. They will be looking forward to playing against another top five team, after how good they were against Glenorchy.
Glenorchy head up to UTAS Stadium to take on North Launceston at 1:30pm next Saturday. It will give the Magpies a chance to test themselves against a fellow top three team.
Both sides will have injury concerns heading into round 14, with Michael Paul is in doubt for next week due to his hamstring and Glenorchy’s Sam Reeves needing to recover from an ankle injury sustained in the second half of this win.
