By Trevor Jackson
Tantanoola 11.9 (75) d Kongorong 8.10 (58)
A late flurry from Kongorong was not enough to overcome Tantanoola in Round 6 of Mid South East football on Saturday.
While just 17 points separated the two sides at the final siren, the Tigers were in control for much of the game.
An opening-term barrage set the Tigers up for the win, with four goals and five behinds to Kongorong’s one major.
The 23-point advantage was needed, as the the Hawks came back hard in the second term but at the long break still trailed by 11 points.
Fortunes fluctuated on the breeze and Tantanoola took advantage in the third quarter to stretch the margin to 34 points.
Again the margin was needed as the home side tried to use the wind to its advantage on the run home.
Despite holding the Tigers scoreless in the final stanza, the Hawks could not reel in the margin and went down by 17 points in a hard slog.
The difference in the end was the ability of the Tigers to find their spearhead forwards in good position, as Jack Dawe and Brandon Pitts kicked three majors each.
Tigers coach Jak Ryan said he expected a tough contest, with the strong breeze set to have an impact on the final outcome.
“Rocking up there at the start of the B Grade and watching the goal posts sway to and fro was a bit daunting,” he said.
As it panned out, the contest was spirited, with both sides playing a tough brand of football.
Two yellow cards were handed out, including one to Ryan but he said the way his players reacted showed plenty of resolve.
“When I went off for 15 minutes, the way the boys lifted that extra bit to make sure we didn’t seem like we were one man down was great,” he said.
“Coming into the last quarter with points in the basket, we just wanted to play smart.
“I felt like we were in control but it was hard kicking into the wind.”
One plan which Ryan said made the difference in the end was playing that smart brand of football, rather than blazing away with long kicks on the breeze.
“With such a strong breeze, you can get into that mindset of kicking a goal from 60 or blaze away from 70 out,” he said.
“I said the boys, let’s beat them with the knowledge we have of lowering the eyes and hitting that small target.
“The boys did that and hit up Pittsy and Dawe.
“I think that got us over the line.”
Jordan and Troy Hatt were named best for the Tigers and Ryan was not surprised.
He said Jordan had shown a lot of run, with plenty of “kilometres” in his legs, while Troy is back this year full time, with work commitments seeing him unavailable for much of last season.
“Having Troy back full time has changed the mid field structure completely,” Ryan said.
“Me and Jack (Dawe) are starting to gel well and with Troy there it makes it 10 times easier.”
In the scheme of the season, it was an important win for Tantanoola to keep in touch with the top four.
The Tigers sit in fifth place, equal on points with Port MacDonnell.
But Ryan noted every win was as important.
Several teams have struggled this season, some due to outs for Covid, while others simply have injury concerns.
Tantanoola has been one of those clubs effected by injuries but Ryan was pleased with how his players stood up.
“Two weeks ago we started against Hatherleigh without a bench,” he said.
“This week we lost Roy (Osborne) in the first quarter.
“We had no Pittsy for three weeks and we have been quite injury prone.
“But the boys’ attitude towards it is not that we have blokes out, but we are going to do what we can with what we’ve got.
“What they have been putting on the track and on the field has been great.”
With the Tigers well in contention to crack the top four, a big test will come this weekend against the fourth-placed Port MacDonnell.
Again Ryan is not taking anything for granted and relishes the challenge ahead.
“Port Mac will be a good challenge for us,” he said.
“We have played a couple of teams where we want to draw the line in the sand with and they are one of those teams.
“They have some handy footballers that we have to look out for and they are not going to come easy.”
