HAMILTON Kangaroos are the Hampden league’s giant killers.
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The Kangaroos made it a hat-trick of wins at home against the competition’s top three sides when they notched a one-point victory over North Warrnambool Eagles on Saturday.
Their 10.13 (73) to 10.12 (72) triumph followed early-season wins against ladder leader Warrnambool — another one-point thriller — and second-placed Koroit.
Hamilton Kangaroos coach Jarrod Holt said 200-gamer Lachie Crawford booted the winning point with about a minute left to play.
Roo key forward Hugh Douglas kicked the last two goals of the match after the Eagles fought back from a 13-point three-quarter-time deficit to be two goals up midway through the final term. “It looked like we were running out of legs but the boys found a way to pinch it back,” Holt said.
“We didn’t rotate our midfield as much as we have in the past. We wanted to play a one-on-one style of footy and tried to choke them down and put as much pressure on as we could. Brad Thomas, Gareth Crawford and Kane Uebergang did a power of work in the middle.”
Holt said the Kangaroos were pleased they honoured Lachie Crawford’s milestone with a gutsy win.
“He played at half-back all game and in the last 10 minutes we pushed him to half-forward and he took a couple of good marks which helped us,” he said.
North Warrnambool Eagles coach Bernard Moloney said the loss was a lesson for his side.
“They put enormous pressure on and we didn’t handle the pressure well,” he said.
Moloney said the Eagles “started to play like they were meant to” in the final term.
But he said the Kangaroos were better for longer.
“They deserved to win. We would have snatched it if we got it,” Moloney said.
“It was a good effort for us to get back in the game and that’s one thing I was pleased about.”
The Eagles suffered a couple of minor injuries. Utility Ben Mugavin has a sore Achilles and defender Xavier Mills copped a knee in his back.
Moloney said midfielder Matthew Wines, defender Darcy Keast and ruckman Jordan Dillon did their best to keep the Eagles in the contest.