KEEPING your opposition to one goal and winning by 148 points is usually big enough news to emerge from a day at the football.
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But for Merrivale those two impressive achievements were only part of the story of its 22.25 (157) to 1.3 (9) win over Deakin University at Merrivale on Saturday.
The Tigers had some gains and some losses in personnel, with veteran Matthew Peake’s future up in the air after sustaining another hamstring injury.
The injury happened in the second quarter and leaves Peake’s availability for the rest of the season in doubt.
While his loss is a big blow, the Tigers did have some good news with key forward James Fary making the most of a reprieve.
Fary had been omitted but got a late call-up after Josh Sobey pulled out with a sore shoulder.
Fary kicked five goals in a performance that pleased his coach Karl Dwyer.
“It was good to see James kick five goals but probably more important was the lift in his work rate,” Dwyer said. “He is such a good finisher and today he got to more contests which we have been working with him to do.”
The Tigers were not short of goalkickers with Brad Kelly contributing eight and Jet Dowie six.
Onballer Sam Gleeson was in outstanding form for the Tigers in a game where his team’s dominance meant the Sharks had to wait until the last quarter to kick their only goal. “Today was about getting back to the basics, giving that first option and keeping your feet,” Dwyer said.
“A game like this can go a couple of ways. It would have been easy to play as individuals and still win but I think we played the type of team footy we were looking for.”
This week the Tigers play host to Panmure and will be looking to reverse a 26-point loss from when they met in round nine.
Sobey is expected to return for the Tigers while star utility Todd McLean is also a chance, having played the last three games in the reserves on his comeback from injury. And Dwyer is also a chance to return for the clash against the Bulldogs having missed the last four games with a knee injury.
“When we played Panmure the first time this year the game was pretty well shot by quarter-time,” Dwyer said.
“Our aim is to be a lot more competitive and we need to show more effort this time than we did the first time we played them.”
The old saying a week is a long time in football is ringing in the ears of Russells Creek players and supporters.
This time last week the Kangaroos were on a high after winning their first game of the season but the feeling is much different a week on. A visit to Dennington on Saturday went horribly wrong for the Kangaroos, as they copped a 222-point thumping.
The Kangaroos kicked just two goals for the game as the Dogs ran riot, kicking 37.
For the Dogs Luke Duncan bagged eight goals and Chris Keilar and Alex Pye five each.
And Panmure didn’t muck around as it left Nirranda some unpleasant memories to take away from the Panmure Recreation Reserve.
The Bulldogs won by 112 points with key forward Tom White kicking seven goals, taking his season tally to 52.
Panmure coach Simon O’Keefe returned from a long injury lay-off and kicked four goals while Jason Mifsud kicked two goals in his return from a hamstring injury.