Sport
3 May, 2022
Bombers claim second win against Seagulls
COBDEN Bombers head into the Hampden League bye round with two wins from four after a stirring 104-point victory over Port Fairy at home on the weekend.
COBDEN Bombers head into the Hampden League bye round with two wins from four after a stirring 104-point victory over Port Fairy at home on the weekend.
After a tight first quarter Cobden was down by 14 points to 12, but the Bombers kicked away in the second to lead at quarter time 8.10 (58) to 2.4 (16).
The second half followed a similar pattern, with the Seagulls competing hard in the third quarter only to fall away in the last, scoring only three behinds to leave Cobden ahead 22.17 (149) to 6.9 (45).
Thomas Spokes led the goalkickers for the Bombers, booting five, while Louis Cahill, Luke Hickey and Luke Smith put on three goals each.
In-form Grady Rooke followed up his best on ground performance last week to again lead the votes, with Paul Pekin, Tom Spokes, Tyler Humphrey, Luke Hickey and Oliver Darcy also named in the best.
Bombers coach Dan Casey said he was extremely pleased with the way his players had carried themselves against quality opposition.
“Port Fairy’s midfield is really strong, probably one of the strongest in the comp, so we wanted to match them, show them the respect they deserve by manning them up,” he said.
“I thought our guys did that really well, it was probably the best game our midfielders have played all year.”
Casey said he was impressed with the effort and application his side showed, crediting his players’ never-say-die attitude and fitness as a big factor in the win.
“We’ve been working really hard on our fitness levels, and you could see that in the 25th, 26th minute of the last quarter, the boys were still running on top of the ground,” he said.
“We’ve been trying to teach our young group that when you’re in control of the game to keep pushing hard."
“The pleasing thing is they pushed even harder, and they took it on themselves to do that. There were a lot of positive signs there.”
The Bombers find themselves in sixth on the ladder, behind North Warrnambool and Warrnambool on percentage, and only a game behind Koroit in third.
Cobden travel to Koroit in a fortnight to face the reigning premiers in what will be their sternest test yet, and while Casey admits his side will be the underdog he firmly believes they have every chance of causing an upset.
“Koroit are the benchmark of the comp, so we know they’re going to put pressure on us,”he said.
“But we’re going to have a chance to put pressure back on them, we just have to keep playing the way we are and not go away from what we’ve been doing."
“As a young group we know where we’re at, so I’m encouraging the boys to do what they’re doing well."
“With Koroit you’ve got to show all their players respect, but we’ll try to keep playing the way we play, move the ball quickly and freely, and give our forwards opportunities.”
In other Hampden League matches on the weekend Warrnambool defeated Terang Mortlake by 89 points, North Warrnambool beat Hamilton, and Portland won at home against Camperdown.
