WODONGA Raiders held off a gallant Wangaratta Rovers to keep their finals hopes alive with a gritty 12-point victory at Birallee Park on Saturday.
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In a match where the big men shone, Hayden Heta kicked five goals for the Raiders while Rovers captain Shane Gaston defied an ankle injury to almost single-handedly keep the Hawks in the contest.
Heta was outstanding for the Raiders in the 15.8 (98) to 13.8 (86) victory, kicking three first-quarter goals from full-forward before splitting his time in the ruck and attack as Jordan Rouse battled a knee injury.
Gaston was brilliant in the air and at ground level for the Hawks and helped them get within 12 points with two last-quarter goals after Heta had put the Raiders 25 points clear with his fifth major at the 18-minute mark.
It was that sort of game – Raiders held the advantage for most of the day but Rovers wouldn’t go away.
Brad St John, Tyler Cornish and Todd Bryant were superb in the midfield for the Raiders but Dylan Stone (four goals) and Dylan Wilson provided fantastic support for Gaston to keep the Rovers in the match.
The Raiders suffered a blow at the 28-minute mark of the second quarter when Jake Uslar was stretchered from the field with a knee injury.
Daniel McCullough goaled as soon as Uslar left the field to bring the margin back to seven points before a Cornish bomb after the half-time siren put the Raiders 13 points clear.
They extended that buffer by a point in an error-riddled third term before early goals to Jydon Neagle, Steve Jolliffe and Dylan McKane set up what proved to be a match-winning 25-point lead for the Raiders at the 11-minute mark of the last quarter.
“It was good to get the four points but we’ve still got a bit of work in front of us,” Raiders coach Daryn Cresswell said.
“Our work around the contest wasn’t as good as last week, but it was pretty good, we just fell down in our back 50.
“The Rovers played really good, hard, conventional footy and, at times, we just tried to be a bit too cute.
“When they really came at us in the third quarter I thought we were able to compose ourselves really well.”
A concussed Stone was stretchered from the field following a heavy tackle at the 12-minute mark, joining Cody Schutt (foot) and Stuart Booth (ribs) on the bench in a tough day for the Hawks.
“We were in the game all day but, once again, we’ve finished with no bench which makes it tough,” Rovers co-coach Sam Carpenter said.
“I thought it was a really strong effort from the boys and I was proud of how they didn’t roll over and fold because it looked at one stage like Raiders could run away with it and win by five or seven goals.
“It was a really strong effort, we’ll take a lot of positives out of the match.
“If Wodonga Raiders are going to be playing finals, I don’t think we’re far off.”