THE Murray Bushrangers learned their lesson from last week’s loss to North Ballarat, holding firm against a charging Geelong Falcons.
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In a see-sawing match, the Bushies kicked away in the dying minutes and displayed a new found maturity to ice the clock and seal a nine-point win over the fourth placed Falcons.
They’ll enter next week’s bye firmly entrenched in the top three, with Bushrangers talent manager Lee Fraser praising the efforts of the much younger side that played in the absence of the likes of Josh Minogue and Lachlan Tiziani, who were called into the NSW/ACT representative side for the weekend.
“We had a lot of players step up, but it was guys like Mitch King, Lachlan Waite and Clayton Oliver who played some smart footy in the dying minutes of the game,” Fraser said.
“We had a disappointing loss last week, but to learn from that loss and beat a quality side is such a great response for this group.
“The two teams were very evenly matched, and with a lot of representative footy being played at this time of year we had a whole host of contributors, some who have played less than five games at this level.
“We found ourselves in a similar situation to what we were in last week, but we were able to tough it out and get a well-earned four points.”
Mitch King continued to impress in the ruck in his comeback from a serious knee injury, while Shaun Mannagh took on more time in the midfield, displaying some attacking flair to kick two goals.
Ethan Boxall was best on ground in his debut for the Bushrangers, with Fraser singling the youngster out for his attack on the footy.
“Ethan played a tough game, hard at the footy, but still good enough to hit the scoreboard as well,” O’Reilly.
“But the number of players who stood up was impressive.
“Harrison Tanner was great across half-back, keeping structures in place, and Ryan Garthwaite played a great game too, I thought.”
The Bushrangers have a bye next weekend before they face the Northern Knights at Wangaratta on July 4.