Lions snatch win over Barooga
The first of a testing run of games began at home against Barooga on Saturday when Mulwala escaped with the win in the dying minutes of the match by four points, 14.15 to 14.11.
Mulwala welcomed back key players Hammond, Clarke, O’Sullivan, Johns and Dylan Robinson. Mulwala’s slow starts continued with Barooga jumping to an early lead. Tom Beams’ hard work across half forward was helping to get things flowing for Mulwala but slow entries inside fifty weren’t helping Mulwala’s scoring. Mulwala was working into the contest with Mulwala onballers starting to get to the ball first and Lee James and Anthony Guiliano were also starting to collect possessions inside the forward fifty but accuracy was a bit of an issue early on. At the other end the backline was standing up well to ensure the contest stayed close leading to the first break.
Mulwala’s players were having trouble finding space in the forward line with some very congested play making scoring difficult. Josh Hammond was covering plenty of ground to set up attacking moves but the scoreboard remained static. Tom Wilson was in everything at the base of the pack and his hard work was helping Mulwala to keep in touch.
The Barooga backline was very much on top of the dangerous Mulwala key forwards and when the chances came points were the result. Mulwala was being challenged for the first time in the year and having to kick under pressure with many targets missed.
The two teams continued to go head to head in the third term with Mulwala kicking the first two of the quarter and Barooga responding quickly. Lee James was starting to find some space as was Sean Johns and Cam Symes.
Both teams were moving the ball quickly from end to end which had the backlines under pressure. Barooga received a series of soft decisions to assist them kick three goals and take the lead. At the other end Mulwala’s players were earning their goals.
Michael Duiker was showing the way with accurate kicking to hit targets Cam Symes got on the back of one of Michael’s efforts and took the responsibility to kick the goal from fifty.
The two teams were not giving an inch early in the last term with space very hard to find. Tom Beams was continuing to present well across half forward but target closer to goal were hard to hit up. The lead was switching backwards and forwards with no-one able to break clear.
Nick O’Bryan was continuing his high possession game winning the ball in the packs and also taking important contested marks. Cam Symes and then Tom Beams goaled to wrestle back the lead at the twenty minute mark but he game remained in the balance.
Josh Hammond had moved up forward and his forward pressure was very telling.
Barooga hit the front at the beginning of time-on and Mulwala needed to break clear to score to win or draw. In a heart stopping finish Barooga was hanging on to a slender lead. It took a brave switch from Nick O’ Bryan in the back half late in time-on to create an opportunity.
Sean Johns received the ball clear on the wing and targeted Lee James who handed the responsibility to Tom Beams who slotted a great goal from 35 out on the run to snatch the game.
It took a monumental effort to get the four points against a determined Barooga team but Mulwala was in front when it counted.
Nick O’Bryan’s leadership of the group was an extremely important factor in the hard fought win. Winning against better quality opposition will certainly help to galvanise the team for the challenges in the coming weeks.
Last Modified on 17/05/2012 22:03