Mooroopna sees aspects to iron out after routine Goulburn Valley League win

Tatura’s woes are hardly all its own doing; staring down a prime contender without Brad and Matt Ryan was hard enough before finishing the day without Chaz Sargeant.

That said, Saturday’s 14.11 (95) to 5.8 (38) defeat to the Cats at Tatura Park left the Bulldogs stuck on a final score in the thirties for the fourth straight week.

The Cats, comfortable as the scoreboard would read by the final siren, certainly could have been much further out in front early.

The ball practically lived in Mooroopna’s forward half during the first term, but John Lamont’s side squandered a raft of chances in a quarter following which a 16-point margin did not seem reflective.

The visitors proceeded to tighten the screws after quarter-time, briefly forcing Tatura to face the prospect of a goalless first half before Ryan Young saved face just before the main break.

Paul Barnard’s undermanned side, to its credit, fought fiercely through a scrappy third term and came out on top for the quarter, with Ethan Penrith contributing two of his three goals late on.

Daniel Johnston’s afternoon roared into life once the final term rolled around, notching three of his eventual game-high five majors in that time to help seal a comfortable percentage-booster.

Both sides had representation in what turned into a three-way awarding of the Gary Cooper Medal for best on ground, as Cats Coby James and Caden Ratcliffe shared the award with Tatura’s Jacob Simpson.

John Lamont certainly wouldn’t call it a perfect showcase, mind you.

“We spoke about not taking our chances well enough and maybe overpossessing at times,” Lamont said.

“At three-quarter time we spoke about needing to get back on the job a bit, as our error rate was just too high.

“The third quarter was a real arm-wrestle - an error-laden first 20 minutes of play, but Tatura lifted late.

“When we had the ball, we just needed to tighten things up a bit.”

Given the enormous boilover that took place at Victoria Park with Rochester securing a famous win over Echuca, Lamont will take nothing lightly in preparing for the Tigers next weekend.

“We’re going to have to be right on our game next week,” Lamont said.

“It’s probably a good thing to see for the competition; it’s an even comp, and that’s a great thing for all of us.

“You’re happy to win, but we would just have liked to have played with a bit more consistency.

“Nobody’s at full strength, but to grind out an almost 10-goal win away from home is a pleasing result.”

Meanwhile, Paul Barnard lamented the mountain his under-strength side had to attempt to climb.

“We’ve still got eight or nine blokes out from our best 22, and our depth is being tested at the moment,” Barnard said.

“Coming up against that are experienced and well-drilled means our challenges are cut out for us.

“We’ll keep investing in the younger guys’ learning and development; there’ll be some up and down results, but we don’t shy from that.

“Our avenues to goal are really getting stretched. We’re make-shifting our forward line, but we’ve still got issues with turnovers that we need to try and clean up.

“Anyone can beat anyone in this league, so we’ll respect (Shepparton United) accordingly and see if we can get out there and get the four points next week.”