Magpies kick late to finish Blues

At Tongala Recreation Reserve, the visitor may have thought it was in for an easy afternoon as it built a significant first quarter lead.

After Tongala kicked the first of the game through Mitch Heywood, Moama would respond with four straight to lead 4.0 (24) to 1.1 (7) at the break.

Hopes of putting the game to bed early were dashed in the second period as a reinvigorated Blues came out firing, kicking four consecutive goals to claim the lead.

Nate Dear, in particular, sparked the run, responsible for three of those majors.

Trailing by as many as 10, co-coach Jye Warren helped break the run, kicking Moama’s first of the term, and Kaydn Mislicki added another shortly before the half to see the Mowers take a two-point advantage into the half.

The scoring shots weren’t sailing true off the boot for much of the third, and only three goals were added, along with seven behinds.

Two of the majors went Moama’s way, slightly extending the lead, but it was still all to play four in the final period, the Magpies lead just nine.

After battling for three quarters, the Blues faltered slightly to start the final term, and Moama was there to capitalise, putting the game out of reach with the first four majors.

The sides traded two apiece over the remaining minutes, but Moama had done enough to score the win, 14.8 (92) to 8.9 (57).

There were three four-goal efforts across the two teams, Ky Stovel and Fraser Verhey leading the way for the Magpies, while Dear was the only Blue to kick multiple majors.

Now firmly embedded in the top four, Moama is well-positioned to extend its winning streak to five ON Saturday as it takes on the league’s remaining winless side, Barooga, at Moama Recreation Reserve.

In a split round six, the 1-4 Tongala has a week off to prepare for a visit to Cobram on May 17.