NORTH Albury coach Jason Akermanis quickly turned his attention to the undefeated Wodonga Raiders after the Hoppers ripped apart Wangaratta by 70 points at Bunton Park on Saturday.
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The Hoppers rebounded from a round 1 loss to reel in a 20-point deficit in the first term to take control from quarter-time.
They outscored the Magpies 9.10 to 1.2 in the second half to be primed for a shot at the resurgent Raiders, who have added four former Hoppers players — Matt McDonald, Matt Murray, Jethro Calma-Holt and Shane Munro — in the off-season.
The aforementioned recruiting activity wasn’t lost on Akermanis in the post-match.
“I’ve got no doubt our players are looking forward to the game,” he said.
North Albury was on the back foot early with Wangaratta dominating out of the middle and key forward Joel Harris on fire early.
He booted three successive goals as the Magpies made the early running.
But in the blink of an eye and some great play in the midfield from Luke and Nick Holman, the Hoppers were back in the contest.
The second term belonged to the Hoppers with Jordan Harrington producing a quarter to remember.
His trademark pace was on display as he booted four goals to add to his two in the first to also help drag the Hoppers back into the game.
Magpies recruit Robbie Hicks responded with two goals to keep them in the match, but a goal after the half-time siren from Josh Lloyd put the Hoppers 14 points up.
The Hoppers took the upper hand in the contested ball count in the second quarter and rammed home their advantage in the second half.
Wangaratta lost co-captain Xavier Norden before half-time to a heavy knock and the club’s other co-captain Matt Kelly was also in the injury wars after the main break.
Daniel Boyle and Justin Hoggan were also undergoing medical treatment during the match.
The Magpies managed their only second half goal after the final siren courtesy of youngster Matt Hedin.
The Hoppers, by comparison, suddenly had winners all over the ground.
Harrington and Ryan Polkinghorne gave them a pace edge across the ground and Hunter Lloyd fought back from the early onslaught from Harris to keep him goalless after half-time.
Akermanis was delighted with the response to the round 1 loss to Wod- onga.
“We needed an extra game and we were a bit rusty last week,” he said.
“We had a lot more contributors and winners today.
“We have got replacements if we need them.”
I’ve got no doubt our players are looking forward to the game.
