United was more than competitive against the Bombers in the first three quarters, but was blown away in the final term to fall by 76 points, 16.15 (115) to 5.5 (35).
Meanwhile the Timbercutters witnessed first-hand why Tungamah is one of the favourites for the flag this season after getting thumped by 266 points, losing 0.2 (2) to 40.28 (268).
For United, the final 76-point margin doesn’t represent how well it played, with the Blues up for the contest early.
A tight first term had the Bombers ahead by just one point at quarter-time and the margin was still just 17 points with three quarters in the books. But Waaia booted 9.6 in the fourth quarter to United’s 0.1 to win its 10th game of the season.
Picola United head coach Darby Walsh said he was extremely pleased with his side’s effort, adding it just ran out of legs in the last quarter.
“Barring that last quarter, we were super, super happy with our game,” Walsh said.
“We were happy with the way we went about it, we were happy with our structure. Our game plan was working, our pressure and intensity was really high.
“I think we spent all our petrol tickets in the first three quarters. We got to the last term and we were dead on our feet, to be honest. We were down on rotations in the last quarter, which didn’t help.”
The game against Waaia caps off a tough run of for the Blues, who faced each of the top three sides in the past three rounds.
After a disappointing performance against Tungamah last round, Walsh said it was good to see his side improve against another undefeated team in Waaia.
“It’s a matter of finding the belief in ourselves that our best is good enough,” he said.
“We’ve played the top three sides in three weeks. We won the last quarter against Tungamah and finished the game off quite well, and I think we took that momentum into this week, which was really pleasing as well.”
Taylor Beard kicked three goals for the Blues, while Cody Haub kicked his side’s other two majors.
Walsh said it was a great team performance from his side.
“It was a team effort. There was no one standout, I thought we were strong across the lines as a team,” he said.
In Mathoura, the Timbercutters were handed the biggest loss of the PDFNL season by a red-hot Tungamah side.
Lachlan Phillips booted 11 majors for the Bears, with Xavier Stevenson also slotting six majors for Tungamah.
It was Mathoura’s second 200-point defeat of the year, after it lost to Waaia by 255 points in round two.
The wins see Tungamah (11-0) and Waaia (10-0) remain in first and second spots on the ladder.
Meanwhile, Picola United is still holding on to a finals spot in eighth, while Mathoura is second-last in 14th.
The game
Waaia: 1.3, 6.6, 7.9, 16.15 (111)
Picola United: 1.2, 2.4, 5.4, 5.5 (35)
Best
Waaia: Jesse Trower, Lachlan Wright, Ashley Thompson, Jayden Clarke, Mitchell Cleeland, Mark Bergamin
Picola United: Blake Jorgensen, Charlton Hindle, Ben Turpin, Jai Morrison, Jordan Gattuso, Luke Woolan
Goals
Waaia: Jesse Trower 6, Mark Meyland, Charlie Burrows, Brayden Coates 2, Ashley Thompson, Lachlan Wright, Austin Tricarico, Adam Brooks
Picola United: Taylor Beard 3, Cody Haub 2
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