It’s the persevering message Chad Owens has been pounding into his Mansfield troops of late and it finally came to fruition during the Eagles’ seven-goal win over Rochester at the weekend.
Mansfield won all four quarters of footy against the Tigers, the first time Owens’ side had done so all season, on the way to notching an 11.14 (80) to 4.6 (30) victory in Goulburn Valley League.
So you can bet he was pleased at the siren.
Wrapped up: Rochester’s Joe Atley.
Photo by
Bruce Povey
“We were stoked with the game, we thought our boys turned up with a great attitude which has been coming in the last three weeks,” Owens said.
“We’ve turned up with laser sharp focus and ready to go.
“We won every quarter for the first time this year, so that was a challenge that the boys had set themselves before the game.
“We extended the lead at every break which was good, sometimes it was only by one point, but it still means we’re winning the quarter.
Bursting through: Rochester’s Matt Kellett.
Photo by
Bruce Povey
“That’s what we’re trying to concentrate on at the moment, winning quarters of footy based on the back of our defence.”
A tall Eagles had the early rub of the green, as Jayden Howes and Brett Mahoney used their figures up forward and in the midfield respectively to bully Rochester in key areas of the ground.
Strong grab: Mansfield’s Ben Christopher.
Photo by
Bruce Povey
The pair’s imposing frames were hard to nail down for a smaller Tigers’ outfit, though Rochester’s usual suspects – Joe Atley, Hamish Hooppell and Mitch Cricelli – did not give their opposites an inch during the loss.
The latter earned high praise from the winning coach, with Cricelli’s ruck battle against Mansfield debutant Gus van der Heyden a sight for sore eyes according to Owens.
“He’s a workhorse that kid, he played ruck and centre half-forward for the whole game and I can’t remember him coming off the ground,” he said.
Under pressure: Mansfield’s Sam Thomson.
Photo by
Bruce Povey
“The way he goes about it is just amazing. He’s a hard, physical young player who just keeps going and his battle with Gussy in the ruck was awesome.
“It was so good to see a couple of young guys playing hard, playing fair and going about their business really good.”
Individual battles caught the eye of Owens ― and in his eyes, Mansfield didn’t lose a single one.
“The way we looked at it is we didn’t have a loser for the day, not everyone won their positions – some people halved it – but we felt that we didn’t lose one position for the day,” he said.
“We think that’s really important for the majority of our group.”
Howes earned best afield merits for Mansfield, while Mahoney and Ben Christopher starred with three goals.
For Rochester, Atley doubled up while the other scoring efforts came from Sean Williams and Grant Fuller.