FINLEY has fallen agonisingly short of delivering an upset in the Murray Football League.
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In a closely fought thriller, the Cats showed plenty of heart to not only stay in the game but stayed with Barooga to the very end, falling at the final hurdle to lose 15.6 (96) to 15.7 (97).
But Cats coach Andrew Richardson said he was pleased with the way his side had hung on in the one-point loss.
“We trailed at quarter time and they were building a steady lead,” he said.
“But our boys didn’t lie down and showed plenty of character when the game could easily have slipped away.
“In the end it was one of those games that could have gone either way ... it was a great game of footy to watch, even though we lost.”
The Cats didn’t have luck on their side and had just mounted another, attack when the siren sounded.
“We’d made a few changes earlier and started to gain momentum,” Richardson said.
“And although they broke away in the start of the last quarter, we finished strongly.”
A couple of moves from the coach’s box looked to have paid off, as Tim Mckenzie took up a role at centre half forward.
“He came up from the wing where he was a little bit quiet last week to ending up our best player,” Richardson said.
Richard Findlay bagged six majors for the Cats.
Richardson also praised the efforts of Mick Littlejohn and Lachie Small.
“They were both great around the ball,” he said.
“So there were a lot of positives out of the game — we’re really starting to unify after a change over in personnel and we’re getting stronger as the season goes on.
“Even though we’re two and four we believe we’re the right track.”