General News
9 July, 2019
Tigers claim major scalp
SIMPSON continued its giant killing ways in the Colac and District football league on Saturday, downing a top three side for the second time in three weeks.
SIMPSON continued its giant killing ways in the Colac and District football league on Saturday, downing a top three side for the second time in three weeks.
The Tigers knocked over third placed Alvie in a free flowing contest at Simpson, keeping alive their finals chances.
The two sides went goal for goal in the opening quarter with the Swans holding a five point lead at the first change before the Tigers broke the game completely open after quarter time.
They dominated the Swans in all facets of the contest, kicking eight unanswered goals from the start of the second quarter to halfway through the last term to set up their 16.9 (105) to 10.6 (66) win.
Co-coach Tom Leishman said he was thrilled with his side’s “really important” victory.
“To go down by a couple of points last time and then turn the tables on our home deck...I’m very happy we turned it around,” he said.
“Our season was on the line, we had to win and losing wasn’t an option so it was good the boys performed well.
“We only dropped away for five minutes or so in the third so I was very happy with it.”
Leishman was pleased with what was a strong all round performance from his side and said there were no passengers.
Across the ground there were numerous winners, with Leishman, Ben Jackson and Brad Salmon continually providing drive out of the midfield, while Jamie Barry and Joel Hayward were resolute in defence.
Up forward, Nick Harding (seven goals), Jono Jennings (five) and Matthew Drayton (three) capped off the work of their team-mates.
“We had a talk about a lot things we needed to work on but defensively I thought we were really good,” Leishman said.
“I thought our forward line worked well, we really opened it up and gave Whopper (Harding) and Jono a chance to lead into it (space).
“Our midfield got on top, our young ruckman got on top and a few of our guys had individual shut down roles.
“Guys like Cody Mason, Mitch Wright and Beau Royal limited some of their better players and done really well.”
The Tigers’ victory kept them sixth on the ladder, with the side now preparing to face Irrewarra-Beeac.
Leishman said his club would take “momentum and a bit of confidence” into the clash from their victory but knows they still have to work hard in their remaining games to secure a finals berth.
He said it was imperative the Tigers continued to play their brand of footy given their fate was in their own hands.
“We’ve knocked off two of the top three sides now in the last three weeks so we’ll take a lot of confidence, but the boys are pretty on to it with what we’ve got to do,” he said.
“We’ve got to keep winning to be a chance of making finals but I think winning momentum will be a good thing.
“We can’t just limp into any game thinking we’re going to win, they’re a lesser side (ladder-wise) but we’re still going to come in and play like we would against a top side.
“Percentage is what it is going to come down to at the end of the year so we’re going to need a big win, but we just need to put four quarters out and go from there.”