Tigers end Echuca dynasty

The Tigers came out of the blocks firing, with Sean Williams bending one off his left boot within the first two minutes.

After trading minor scores, a Cody Walker set shot gave rise to a slick Cooper Barber finish to bring the scores level before James McPhee, Williams and Hamish Hooppell struck inside two minutes to leave the Murray Bombers reeling.

A strong breeze, which favoured Rochester in the first and third quarters and Echuca in the second and fourth, would prove a critical factor in the game.

When against the wind, Ash Watson dropped an extra man back into defence, forcing Echuca to play one short or congest the forward 50 with a matching man of their own.

Liam Tenace gave the Murray Bombers some hope at the start of the second period before Samuel Edgar continued the belief, but Rochester held firm with Wil Hamilton slotting one to give his side a nine-goal advantage at the major break.

Barber drew first blood for the Murray Bombers to begin the second half positively; however, the Tigers had the answer at every turn, with some individual brilliance from Cooper Hamilton and Adam McPhee keeping the green tsunami at bay.

Malik Gordon and Mitchell Wales both hit the scoreboard either side of Rochester’s Drew Lloyd, popping up with his first goal of the year, to tee-up a pulsating final frame between the arch-rivals.

Hudson Kellett gave Echuca some confidence at the start of the fourth quarter, but another three goal barrage courtesy of Hooppell, Hugh Hamilton and Lloyd left plenty of work to be done for the defending champions.

In a lengthy run home, James McPhee and Barber traded blows to inch the Murray Bombers closer, before a Hugh Byrne left-foot snap lifted his side to within a goal of levelling the game.

As had been the case all day, it was high drama to finish as Rochester had a chance to ice the game, settling for a behind, while Echuca missed a prime opportunity to send it into overtime.

Both teams continued to slug it out in the mud until that fateful siren sounded, signalling an end to the Murray Bombers’ dreams of four-peat glory in a 12.7 (79) to 10.13 (73) finish.

Rochester coach Ash Watson was proud of the fight his boys showed throughout the game, but particularly in the last.

“It was awesome,” he said.

“We got challenged a bit towards the end of the game, going against the breeze and having a man down, so it was a gutsy win by the fellas.”

The use of the extra man in defence was a key strategy for the Tigers, with Watson feeling it helped mitigate the advantages provided by the conditions.

“We thought it was pretty hard to score to the left-hand end of the ground, going against the breeze,” Watson said.

“We had the breeze in the first quarter and used it well, but then going against it in the second quarter, we thought we’d try and make it hard for Echuca to score.

“We did that in the last quarter as well by putting an extra man behind the ball, and we thought that worked in our favour.”

Now on to a second preliminary final in as many years, the finish line could be in sight for Rochester as it searches for a first premiership since 2008, when Watson was a player

First, the Tigers will have to defeat sneaky Mansfield in the preliminary final at Deakin Reserve on Sunday, September 14 to set up a date with a Kyabram side firing on all cylinders.

“Definitely (taking it) a week at a time,” Watson said.

We know it'll be tough this weekend against Mansfield, who are in good form.

“Obviously, they got done this week, but before that were in some really good form and finished the season strong.

“We had a draw with them down at Mansfield a month or so ago.

“We’ve got some troops down, but that's all right, next one up will stand up, and that's what finals footy is about.”

Long term out Mitch Cricelli has been joined on the bench by Dylan Gordon and Andy Henderson over the last month or so, and Hamish Heine is also in doubt for the prelim after suffering a head knock.