WODONGA Raiders stamped themselves as the Ovens and Murray’s big improver this season with a 36-point win over Myrtleford at Birallee Park on Saturday.
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Despite the late withdrawal of Jydon Neagle due to VFL commitments with Essendon, the Raiders proved a class above their injury-hit opponents as they cruised to successive wins for the first time since July 2013.
Raiders coach Daryn Cresswell was content rather than ecstatic with his team’s performance.
“I didn’t think the effort was as consistent as the previous game so that’s something we need to work on,” he said.
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“It was a reasonable effort but we let ourselves down in the second quarter, which I was pretty unhappy about.
“We went away from what’s been helping us win quarters and crucial moments.
“I thought we went kick chasing a bit.
“You have got to be happy with a six-goal win though and I thought our first quarter and second half was OK.”
Myrtleford came out of the match with more headaches after Morris medallist Kristan Height injured his shoulder in the second term and was forced to play forward, while Pat Sullivan was knocked out in the opening quarter while bravely backing into a pack.
The Alpine Saints’ lack of marking options was exposed up forward, while Hayden Heta dominated the ruck against smaller opponents.
Heta combined superbly with onballers Steve Jolliffe, Todd Grayson, Brock Knights and Matt McDonald in the opening quarter as the home team piled on 7.1 to 1.5 to set up the win.
Myrtleford responded to a roast from co-coaches Leigh Corcoran and Brad Murray at the quarter-time break by cutting the deficit to 14 points early in the third quarter.
Murray was prolific in the midfield, Christian Burgess and Nathan Cossignani worked hard around the packs and Willie Thorne kicked four majors in a lone hand up forward.
Myrtleford find themselves in a tough spot after two losses, with unbeaten Lavington to come this week.