Mooroopna’s young stars shine in win over Tatura, Dowling takes out Gary Cooper Medal

Tatura drew first blood following a rare miss by Chris Nield, with a lightning-fast break on the wing eventually slotted by Andrew Ciavarella.

Mooroopna was void of early sights on goal as the Bulldogs’ backline looked firm, Ethan Penrith making himself busy shutting down the Cats’ main dangers.

But it was only a matter of time until Nield made himself known.

The astute forward kicked his first 10 minutes in to take Mooroopna ahead by a point, later handballing to Toby Williams for a point blank finish to extend the buffer.

Fellow star Cat Jackson Trengove converted from close, while a goal just before the siren had the home side burst out by 22 points at quarter-time.

Ciaveralla started the second term in equally proficient form as the first, drilling a swirling bomb from 50m to make it a 10-point game.

But Mooroopna was just getting started.

Nield grabbed his second from deep in the right pocket and capitalised on another fleeting move three minutes later.

Ciavarella handed his side a lifeline when his set shot sailed through the sticks, however, the respite was short lived once Campbell McElhinney, Ben Hicks and Trengove added more fuel to the growing blaze of confidence to hoist the Cats up 72-29 at the half.

There was little to write home about for either side in the third quarter, but Tatura was stopping the rot and lead from ballooning out further thanks to hard running and tackling from Che Walls and Mitch Elliott.

Trengove claimed his fourth of the afternoon with a laser from just inside the arc to jump start the fourth quarter as the slight lack of polish from the Bulldogs became evident.

The final kick went astray on a number of occasions, but Ciavarella matched Trengove’s tally with his fourth, while Sean McAllister and Brodie Myers got in on the act.

Mooroopna’s Darcy Russell rounded out the game with a goal which was easy on the eye, and was one of a number of youngsters Lamont lauded at the siren.

“It was a good opportunity for our younger players ― we had a few guys out,” he said.

“We got a little bit more out of the likes of Darcy Russell, he got on the scoreboard, Campbell McElhinney, Toby Williams ― those young guys.

“Through the middle of the ground, I was really pleased with Bryce Rutherford’s effort in the absence of the Hunt boys.

“I thought Bryce really stepped up, and I also liked the games of (Isaac) Dowling and (Dom) Gugliotti in the backline.”

Dowling was bestowed with the inaugural Gary Cooper Medal for a superb best-on-ground game down back for Mooroopna, capping a satisfactory result for Lamont in a potential banana skin for his charges.

“We felt at home, it was a game we should win, so in terms of our group it was important that we did,” Lamont said.

“In terms of our evolution as a group, we went up to Echuca and were competitive, went down to Euroa ― two away games against grand finalists ― and get done by a point then have a bye.

“The worry is you come here, have a flat game and get done by four points.

“It was a real test for us, to win a game we should at home, so we’ve come away pretty pleased with it for sure.”

On the opposite front, Tatura coach Paul Barnard remained positive despite the result, light in spirit when referencing the show of fight following a thin first half of football.

“In the past they would’ve cleaned us right out, but at least we dug in during the second half,” he said.

“The first half was poor, but it was poor because they were better with ball in hand, they took territory when they needed to and in front of the ball they were really clean.

“We probably didn’t have as much silk as they had, but we’re not going to throw the baby out with the bath water.

“We’re in a better position as a club and as a team, so we’ll just keep pushing forward.”