James Murphy
Glencoe 19.17 (131) d Robe 9.12 (66)
Glencoe made the trip to Robe on Saturday as the underdog, but returned home with a conclusive victory.
After an inaccurate opening quarter, which had the home team up by nine points, the Murphies were able to snatch the lead in the second term and hold it from there.
At half time they held a 17-point advantage thanks to a return of 6.5 for the quarter, before an eight-goal-to-one effort pushed them to an unassailable lead by the final change.
With 61 points the difference, the Roosters left themselves plenty of work to do in the fourth quarter.
However, Glencoe outscored them again and at the final siren claimed a percentage-boosting 65-point win.
“The boys played really well and it was good to get the win on the board,” Glencoe coach Tom Edwards said.
“We have certainly been building over the last probably four weeks and have just started to get some good continuity across the group and really start to play some good footy together.”
Goals were shared around for the victors, with Brodie Glynn and Henry Smith scoring three each.
Meanwhile, two goals each from Jason Bates, Dylan Childs, Edwards, Alex Hentschke and Darcy Williamson left Robe defenders guessing.
After a shaky start which resulted in just the one goal from seven scoring opportunities, Edwards credited his team for lifting the conversion rate after quarter time.
“We have probably been struggling with conversion lately, we have been kicking a lot of points,” he said.
“We just touched on a few things at quarter time and tried to get the ball to our forwards in high-percentage situations where they could try to make the most of it.
“We really tidied up from there and our forward entries were a lot better.”
In a game where the Murphies’ midfield stepped up, it was Edwards himself who received the best-on-ground honours.
He led by example and put in maximum effort as he pushed his side to victory.
Childs, Patrick Mitchell and Zacc Cocks were equally strong through the centre, while Smith was a reliable target at full forward.
Andrew Gray rounded out the best, while Edwards also gave credit to Sam Giersch who was dominant off the centre-half back line.
“It was a really good team effort – we didn’t have any passengers,” Edwards said.
In a day where coaches stood tall, the Roosters were best served by Thomas Wachtel.
His work in the ruck was pivotal despite the scoreline, while Jed Jarrett, Jordan Pettit and Tom Williams also earned a mention.
Lachlan Hentschke top scored for Robe with three majors, with Jordan Aston and Jarrett also scoring multiples with two each.
Heading into the bye and Robe remains in fifth place a win below Port MacDonnell.
The sixth-placed Murphies have now closed the gap between them and the Roosters, but still trail by two wins.
“Of the four games we have left, we think we can definitely challenge each game and hopefully come away with at least three out of the four wins,” Edwards said.
“We are probably in a position where we can’t quite make finals, but we still want to end the year really well.”
