Rochester coach Ash Watson summed up Saturday as a “big day” for the club as it broke through for its maiden win in the 2023 Goulburn Valley League season.
With a packed marquee for the club’s Ladies Day function, Rochester toughed it out to win by nine points in a hard-fought contest at Moon Oval against Tatura.
Joe Atley was physical around the stoppages and a standout for the Tiges with 26 disposals, 16 of those contested, five clearances and 10 inside 50s.
Tatura defender Michael Archer had his best outing for the club this year and finished with 25 touches, eight marks and eight rebound 50s.
The scores were locked at 45-apiece at the last break, but it was the Tigers who were able to gain the upper hand in a tense final quarter.
Goals to Mitch Bright, Fraser Cleary and Nick O’Connor in the last term were enough to lock in a 9.10 (64) to 7.11 (53) win.
Tatura had multiple chances to pick up its second win of the year, but Paul Barnard’s outfit was left to rue costly errors going forward.
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Charging through: Rochester's Bailey Wileman. Photo by Bruce PoveyImage 2 of 4
On the move: Rochester's Reid Gordon. Photo by Bruce PoveyImage 3 of 4
Under pressure: Tatura's Ethan Penrith. Photo by Bruce PoveyImage 4 of 4
Wrapped up: Tatura's Che Walls is tackled by Hamish Hooppell. Photo by Bruce PoveyThe round five affair was an arm-wrestle as both outfits struggled to rein in their turnovers - Rochester (51) and Tatura (55) - but it was the Tigers who benefited the most from Tatura’s mistakes.
The Tigers booted 7.7 (49) from the visitor’s turnovers with first-year Tiger Reid Gordon leading the way up forward with three majors.
In the medical room, Tatura will be sweating on how gun forward Chaz Sargeant recovers after he was seen with ice on his calf, while Rochester’s Sean Williams will monitor a back complaint after he failed to finish the match.
On a day where the club’s senior football sides won both matches for the first time this year, Watson said the results meant a lot to the community.
“It was a really big day for the club. We had a great crowd for our Ladies Day and to see the joy on the supporters’ faces after the game was fantastic,” Watson said.
“I couldn’t be prouder for the players. It was a real arm-wrestle. Tat had the better of us in that first half and especially in the second term and a few undesciplined errors were costly.
“But I thought we moved the ball better, we cleaned up our discipline and we defended better to hold on in a tight one.’’
Watson said he was pleased for his players to finally get reward for effort after a tough start to the season.
“I think so, we’ve played great in patches and I haven’t been able to fault the buy-in and effort,” he said.
“So to have a real arm-wrestle contest and and hold on and win is really pleasing.”