Moama rebounds to take down Tigers

A much more accurate second term saw the Magpies enter the main break with a slender three-point advantage in what was a dour affair.

The tight contest opened up in the second half, as the Magpies were able to keep Cobram goalless in the third quarter while adding two goals of their own, before a three-goal-to-one final term sealed the result.

Moama coach Sam Sheldon was relieved to be back on the winners’ list following last week’s poor showing.

“It was a good day yesterday, the boys bounced back,” he said.

“They (Cobram) came off a couple of wins and probably turned their season around, I guess. They probably were playing their best footy leading into us. We were probably the opposite, playing our worst, and needed to win.

“First quarter was pretty hot, contested footy, and then we got over the top of them.”

The Magpies’ well-noted goal-kicking woes this season were at the forefront of Sheldon’s mind, with Moama squandering a number of chances to win games due to its waywardness.

“We've been playing good footy, we just haven't been able to convert,” he said.

“We still kicked a few points yesterday, but we were a lot better in front of goal, and scoreboard pressure helps at the end of the day.”

Despite having kicked 1.4 at quarter-time, Sheldon wasn’t fearful of a repeat wayward performance given the difficulty of the shots, but more importantly, Moama’s ability to trap the ball in their forward half and generate repeat entries inside 50.

“A few of those shots were hard shots to get, sort of pulling them out of the hat if you had have kicked them,” he said.

“If they were all set shots in front, I would've been nervous, but they weren't, so it was all good. We were still keeping the ball in our half for good portions of the quarters and that held us in good stead and we got over top of them in the end.”

The Pies now sit fourth on the ladder, two games behind Congupna in second, and while Sheldon admits second spot is a desirable position to be in given the double chance come finals, the side is still focused on the here-and-now rather than September.

“In the Murray league you have to finish top two if you want to get that second chance,” he said.

“But at the moment we are just focusing on tidying our game up and sort of understanding our game plan and how we want to play. Once we tidy all that up, I think the rest will sort of take care of itself.

“Top two is obviously ideal, but that's a long way away from now. We've still got the best part of I think 11 or 12 weeks to go, so we just need to get ourselves to a point where we are playing well together and then the rest will take care of itself.”

Among the best for Moama were Callum Doyle and Jack Sheldon, who drew praise from his coach for being a “hard, hard man” in the guts, while Tom Sheldon drifted forward and kicked two goals, as did Mitch Lake and Stuart Taylor.

While the win is a welcome one for the Magpies, it is soured by the loss of reigning best-and-fairest Nick Pavlou, who is facing an extended period on the sidelines after suffering a significant hamstring injury midway through the second quarter.

Moama will now face bottom three teams Rumbalara, Echuca United and Tocumwal in consecutive weeks as the competition reaches its halfway point, with the Magpies still yet to capture their best form.