Rochester’s Reed Hocking gets amped up after kicking a beauty in the grand final. Photo: Aidan Briggs
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Despite a solid showing through three quarters, it wasn’t enough for the Tigers to claim the flag from Echuca, who ran over the top down the stretch.
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From the outset, the Reserve grand final looked like it could be anyone’s game. Echuca came in as the favourite (as it always seems to) but the Tigers got off to a blistering start to put the Murray Bombers on the back foot.
Rochy tallied the first four scoring opportunities, including back-to-back goals a minute apart to give it a 14-point lead inside the opening 10 minutes.
Despite having fewer disposals (38), marks (four), and marks inside 50 (three) than Echuca in the first quarter, the Tigers were better at converting their scoring chances.
They were also stronger in the middle through the first period of play, notching an impressive 12 clearances and three centre clearances.
The second quarter was a slump in form for Rochy as the Murray Bombers got their bearings, the Tigers only managed a single behind in the period.
Despite a dip in offensive productivity, Rochy still toiled in the middle, the side had three centre clearances to Echuca’s zero and 10 clearances to Echuca’s six.
The third term saw a Rochy resurgence that brought the Tigers back into the game, outscoring the Murray Bombers 3.3 (21) to 2.2 (14) in the quarter.
Both their scoring efficiency and goal accuracy sat at 50 per cent which was a major jump from the quarter prior, while Echuca’s scoring efficiency dived to 30 per cent.
Charlie Palmer wraps up an Echuca player in the grand final. Photo: Megan Fisher
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Rochy tallied its most disposals for the match in the third, collecting 80.
The Tigers’ players also had the most ranking points in the third quarter compared to the other three, notching 369, well over 100 more than any other quarter.
Rochy’s trio of maximums for the period would be the final goals they would score for the match and nudged the Tigers in front by two with the final frame looming, 6.6 (42) to 6.4 (40).
Unfortunately for Rochy, it just ran out of gas.
Echuca’s seven-goal onslaught in the fourth quarter would prove the difference in an otherwise even contest, demonstrating why the Echuca reserves went undefeated all year.
Echuca had all of the top 10 ranking point players in the contest, with Rochester’s Fraser Cleary (78), Charlie Palmer (77), Charles Ward (73) and Reed Hocking (71) appearing alongside Echuca’s Hudson Moyle (76) in the next five.
Yet, interestingly, not one of those Tigers appeared in the best on the ground for Rochy in the match.
It would be a bitter pill to swallow for the Tigers as the last quarter of the season decided the premiers, but they should be proud of their efforts pushing an undefeated machine to the brink.
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