MOYSTON-Willaura coach Matt Burmeister declared his side should have defeated Tatyoon at the weekend in the Mininera and District Football League.
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Instead, the Pumas coughed up a narrow four-point lead at three-quarter-time to lose by three points at Tatyoon. With 90 seconds remaining, John Vanderwaal missed a set shot from 35 metres out. The play didn’t leave the Pumas’ attacking half.
“We threw the kitchen sink at Taty,” Burmeister said.
“Tatyoon should consider itself lucky to get away with the win. We lost it – we had the opportunity to win and and didn’t take it. The boys were very disappointed.”
Harrison Cronin led the way for the Pumas with three goals while Sam Seres and Matt Peel chipped in two apiece. Tyler Cronin booted four majors for the Hawks.
Rhys Cronin received praise from Burmeister for his performance, while Owen Phillips and Lynden Brewis battled hard all day. The Pumas’ vice captain, Luke Thomas, has successfully overcome lower back problems. The onballer played his first full game for 2016 and was solid contributor.
Moyston-Willaura is currently sitting sixth on the ladder, two games out of the top four. This has prompted Burmeister to declare his side’s next three games as must-win encounters.
“We’ve got ourselves into a situation now where we are in ‘must-win’ territory. We can’t afford to drop any more games,” the Pumas coach said.
“The only good thing about it is that it’s only round five. We’ve got a long way to go in terms of working on and improving our game and trying to get better.”
Burmeister added the shock 104-point loss to Penshurst back in round three was a rude awakening, with the Pumas learning a lot from that day.
“It really did set a new standard for the way we approach the rest of the season,” he said.
There were a couple of other nailbiting contests at the weekend. Caramut won its first match for the season, defeating SM&W Rovers by a point. This was despite an eight-goal haul from Sam Munro. Lismore-Derrinallum held off a determined Penshurst also by a point. Wickliffe-Lake Bolac downed Great Western by 110 points, Hawkesdale-Macarthur inflicted a 79-point loss on Ararat Eagles while Glenthompson-Dunkeld were 20-point winners against Woorndoo-Mortlake.
