General News
28 May, 2019
Bombers break the drought
COBDEN’S first win of 2019 will do wonders for the belief of its young playing group according to assistant coach Dan Watson.
COBDEN’S first win of 2019 will do wonders for the belief of its young playing group according to assistant coach Dan Watson.
The injured Bombers midfielder said the players were rapt to open its campaign with a 17.9 (111) to 10.13 (73) win over Portland, ending a run of five successive losses in the process.
“Obviously the start of the season hasn’t gone according to plan so it was really good to get our first win,” he said.
“A win has made everyone feel a lot better about each other and about how the season can look and it’s just good to get one on the board.
“Hopefully it’ll change how we look heading into the second half of the year.”
After being outplayed in the opening term, the Bombers came to life in the second quarter, slamming home eight goals to none to turn an 11 point deficit into a 35 point half-time lead.
The Tigers then returned serve in the third quarter, kicking five goals to Cobden’s one to close the gap to eight at the final change, before the Bombers again kicked away in the last term.
They finished with six goals to one to kick 100 points for the first time this season, coasting to a 38 point win.
Watson was pleased with the performances of the Bombers across the match but said the contest was “definitely a game of momentum”.
“They definitely had the better of us in the first quarter, a few of their mids were getting on top but it was really good to see Jia Anderson go in there and that changed things for us,” he said.
“He tagged one of their better midfielders and that along with Jesse Williamson kicking four goals in the second quarter changed the game for us, we started getting the ball out of the midfield and Jesse was just hot.
“We went into half-time sitting pretty but unfortunately Portland was red hot and came back in the third term.
“But at three quarter time we regrouped and with the help of the wind broke away again.”
Anderson and Williamson, who went on to kick six goals, featured in the Bombers’ best alongside Damon Symes and Charlie Darcy but Watson praised his team-mates for a strong collective performance.
He said more than half of the team produced their best games so far.
“Jia and Jesse were both great along with Damon Symes, who has come from Yarrawonga, played his best game for the club and Charlie Darcy also had his best all-round game since coming back from injury,” Watson said.
“But it was definitely our best game as a collective, we had 10 to 12 players play their best games of the year which definitely helped.”
With the victory lifting the Bombers from last on the ladder to eighth, Watson was asked what it would do for the players’ mindset heading into this weekend’s clash with Koroit.
He said it was the little things that would give the young group “belief in what we’re putting into place as coaches”, adding he wanted them to build on their performance against the reigning premier.
“Even just a little thing such as kicking 100 points along with a win can go such a long way for us,” he said.
“We do know we have Koroit coming up this week, but if we do what we did last weekend there is no reason why it can’t be a really competitive game.”
In the reserves, Portland recorded a 9.9 (63) to 4.2 (26) triumph over the winless Bombers.
Luke Pekin, Nick Kemp, Jake Evans, Brady Green, Nico Nieuwenhuizen and Nick O’Connor were named the side’s best players.
And the Tigers also took out the points in the under 18.5s with a 5.7 (37) to 2.5 (17) victory.
Ben Berry, Tadgh Dwyer, Zac Molan, Brad Gillingham, Oliver Darcy and Jack Darcy were the team’s best.