Mathoura sealed another big win as the Timbercutters’ rebuild took another positive step.
The Cutters were 83-point winners over Yarroweyah in round 13 of the Picola league season, their third of the campaign.
Forward Izaac Johnson equalled his best haul of 2023 with nine goals against the Hoppers, while Aron Burns marked his first game in more than a month with five goals of his own.
The Timbercutters booted seven first-quarter goals at a sodden Yarroweyah, a buffer the struggling Hoppers would fail to track down despite the efforts of Steve Stallion and Tom Scott.
“The ground was quite heavy, it wasn’t the prettiest game to watch,” Mathoura coach Tim McCormick said.
“Once we had control of the footy, we played pretty well.
“To Yarroweyah’s credit, they stuck at it and kept cracking in. We didn’t have it all our way.”
Johnson, Lachlan Carmody and James Mackenzie were pivotal, and after his seventh game named in the best players, first-year Timbercutter Carmody was the subject of McCormick’s praise.
“The thing with him is we give him a job and you know you don’t have to worry about it,” he said.
“He gets the opposition’s best midfielder most weeks. You ask him to do a job and you don’t need to harp on about it — it gets done.”
The win has drawn 11th-placed Mathoura within two games of the top eight with four games to play, but the undefeated Waaia await the Cutters after a two-week break through back-to-back byes.
“I think we’ve got a fantastic mix at the moment,” McCormick said.
“If we can add one or two more guys to that side, the possibilities are limitless. You don’t have to change the world in our competition. We’ve shown that even though we’ve had a fair few guys come in.
“If we can keep this group together and add one or two going forward, we’ve got the makings of a competitive side.”