NORTH Albury coach Jason Akermanis believes his team is in its best position to play finals since he joined the club, after it brought down Wodonga Raiders by 30 points at Bunton Park on Saturday.
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After a tight first half, Hopper Nick Holman emerged as the hero with three third-quarter goals to give the home team a lead it was never going to surrender in atrocious conditions.
“Today was just a slog,” Akermanis said.
“You can’t get fast footy going in those conditions and we knew we had to beat them inside and get it forward.
“I thought we did that in most parts of the game.
“We deserved that win today.
“It was a good grinding win and they deserve to sing the song.”
While Holman was the standout with four goals in a low-scoring match, North Albury were far from a one-man band.
Holman’s brother Kris oozed class every time he won possession, Ryan Polkinghorne kicked two goals as well as shutting down Wodonga Raiders star Steve Jolliffe, while Liam Butler, Hunter Lloyd and Rory Feltwell were rock solid in defence.
Brock-Burrum recruit Kylin Morey proved the wildcard with three majors, including a mir- aculous goal from the boundary in the second quarter.
Wodonga Raiders were forced to play catch-up football for most of the day, but blew their opportunity to apply scoreboard pressure early in the third quarter.
They had the ball trapped inside their forward 50 for 10 minutes but were unable to convert, and the warning bells started to ring when Nick Holman skidded one through at the 11-minute mark to give North Albury a 12-point buffer.
The send-off of Matt Murray soon after for striking Hopper George Godde compounded their problems as the home team led by 23 points at the last change.
Jydon Neagle again showed his class for the Raiders with another fine display while Todd Grayson and Hayden Heta toiled hard with limited support.
Wodonga Raiders coach Daryn Cresswell said the loss was a wake-up call after impressive wins against Wangaratta and Myrtleford.
“I don’t think I have had too many more frustrating losses than that,” he said.
“I just think they just wanted it a bit more than us today.
“There was a bit of niggle but they handled the conditions a lot better”.