JYDON Neagle showed why the VFL’s loss is the Ovens and Murray’s gain with a nine-goal haul in Wodonga Raiders’ 20-point win over Wodonga at John Flower Oval.
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Neagle, who struggled for opportunities with Essendon’s VFL side, put on a clinic opposed to former state league defender Jackson Heagney-Steart in the 13.8 (86) to 9.12 (66) victory, which was the Raiders’ second on the trot.
The son of former Bombers gun Merv was unstoppable, kicking the Raiders’ first six goals of the match as they shot to a 24-point lead two minutes into the second quarter.
Neagle had seven goals by half-time and spent time as a loose man across half-back after the long break as Wodonga tried to force its way back into the contest.
Brett Doswell brought the margin back to 18 points when he kicked his third goal early in the second half but that would be as close as the Bulldogs got despite dominating possession for much of the quarter.
The match was as good as over when Neagle kicked his ninth goal three minutes into the final term to put the Raiders 43 points in front.
But that would be the visitors’ last score for the afternoon.
The Bulldogs responded with three goals in 10 minutes through Tom Johnson, McKye Turner and Jake Hicks, but were left to a rue a string of missed opportunities late in the quarter to put any real scoreboard pressure on the Raiders.
Raiders coach Daryn Cresswell was relieved to get the victory and paid tribute to Neagle after the match, saying he stood up with Adam Flagg and Ross Tungatalum missing from the forward line.
“We’ve got a fair few players to come back in so for the players to stand up the way they did was a pretty good effort,” he said.
“We lacked a focal point early in the year, someone like Jydon.
“We can’t rely on him to do that every week but he’s got some real talent one-on-one and is hard to beat.
“He was exceptional.”
At the other end, Wodonga missed Daniel Bradshaw in attack with the spearhead pulling out before the match with back soreness.
Coach Dean Harding said skill errors killed any chance of a Bulldogs’ victory.
“We gave them too much of a head-start and we were poor by foot again, which has been an Achilles heel for us,” he said.
