GVL | Echuca survives Mooroopna scare to remain on top

By Josh Huntly

Jun 12, 2022

Brutal Murray Bombers: Mooroopna's Oscar Lear-Camci is wrapped up by Echuca's Sam Willoughby and Mitch Wales. Photo by Steve Huntley

Goulburn Valley League ladder-leader Echuca staved off a spirited first-half assault from Mooroopna on Saturday to pull away to an eighth straight win.

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The visiting Cats, sharing a 1.0 (6) to 1.3 (9) stalemate at quarter-time, sharpened the claws in the second quarter to boot four goals to one, snatching an 18-point lead at half-time.

With momentum favouring Mooroopna at the main break, the Murray Bombers found another gear following an honest half-time assessment from co-coach Simon Maddox.

A trademark premiership-quarter fightback underlined an emphatic Echuca revival, with the Murray Bombers piling on seven goals to one in the third term.

An accurate Echuca then piled on the pain with five straight majors in the final term, with the Cats again only managing one, capping a 54-point turnaround and a 14.6 (90) to 8.6 (54) win to the home side.

Hold tight: Mooroopna’s Chris Nield hangs on to Echuca's Bailey Gray. Photo by Steve Huntley

Maddox credited John Lamont’s young Mooroopna squad for stifling his side’s free-flowing game style in the first half, admitting an honest internal assessment was required at half-time.

“At half-time the chips were really down,” Maddox said.

“(The rooms) probably weren’t a good place to be in at half-time.

“Questions were asked: Why are we going away from the game plan, why are we running away from the game style?

“When we went back to it and we started playing for each other, the results were there.

“Credit where credit’s due, Mooroopna were excellent in the first half.”

Let’s chat: Echuca, wearing the Sockit2MND game day socks, huddles up for the start of the game. Photo by Steve Huntley

With Echuca ruck Kane Morris missing, Mooroopna big man Liam Betson lifted for his side in a hard battle against Liam Tenace.

Dom Gugliotti, Jack Hunt and Ben Hicks helped the Cats send a fright through the Murray Bombers camp, but it was Echuca’s experienced movers who lifted in the second half.

Andrew Walker found plenty of the ball in his side’s third-quarter revival and forwards Ruory Kirkby and Will Monahan made the most of it down forward with several important goals.

Kirkby finished with five for the match, while at the other end Cats spearhead Chris Nield could only find one for the day, largely nullified by opponent Aiden Mills.

Air battle: Mooroopna's Liam Betson and Echuca's Liam Tenace do battle in the ruck. Photo by Steve Huntley

Without Morris in the ruck and returning defender Cam Valentine a late out alongside in-form back Logan Prout, Maddox praised his experienced brigade.

“Obviously missing key personnel hurts; no Kane Morris, no Cam Valentine, no Logan Prout,” Maddox said.

“We were four goals down five minutes into the fourth quarter and I thought a few of our older blokes — Andrew (Walker), Ruory (Kirkby), and Ben Reid — lifted their game.

“They brought a few younger blokes along and we got our game style going.

“Toby Hore kicked a few big goals when we needed them, Jackson Stewart got a bit more game time and he really responded, he would have had about 25, 26 touches.

“All in all, a really good team effort.”

Echuca’s eighth win moves it a game clear at the top of the ladder following Mansfield’s defeat to Euroa.