Cobras in control

By Ken Moore
REIGNING premiers, Cora Lynn, gave Bunyip’s fledgling youngsters a football lesson – plus a 65-point hiding on Saturday.
After an even first half, the Cobras rammed on 10 unanswered goals between the halfway point of the third term and the middle of the final quarter to take total control of proceedings.
After a month of wintry weather, Cora Lynn relished the dry ground and almost windless conditions and in the second half displayed the vintage football that saw it secure the flag last season.
In contrast, the Bulldogs put in a shocker after half-time and with a few injuries their lack of depth was exposed across all lines.
Despite five victories this season, a big question mark now hovers over Bunyip’s ability to match it against the top sides.
The first half was an arm wrestle and featured plenty of tight, physical and accountable football from both teams.
At the main break, the Bulldogs only trailed by nine points, despite having the equal, if not far more, of the ball and looked well placed to cause an upset, thanks to good midfield drive from Michael Whyte, Stewart Edwards, Steve Berryman and ruckman Marc Rotunno.
However, early in the second quarter the visitors suffered a huge blow when marquee recruit and key forward Ryan Brown left the ground injured and did not take any further part in the game.
The Cobras’ half-time lead was largely due to commanding work in and around the midfield by ruckman Brad Horaczko and tough utility Brendan Kimber.
At the 10-minute mark of the third quarter a long, running goal by Ryan Davey opened up a 15-point lead and his major turned out to be a prediction of things to come,
Not long afterwards, sharpshooter Darren Sheen presented well and put through his second and third for the game and Anthony Giuliano and Joe Allen added to the Bulldogs’ misery to put a 41-point gap between the sides at three-quarter time.
Bunyip Coach Steve Henwood urged his players to ‘throw caution to the wind and attack’ at the last change and they responded with a spirited opening few minutes, but could not reduce the deficit.
At the 10-minute mark, any hopes of a Bulldog revival were snuffed out when successive goals by Kimber put the result beyond doubt.
The Cobras drilled home the advantage with further goals by Craig Taylor, Jason Hall and a fifth to Sheen.
Bunyip saved a little face and stemmed the Cobras’ flow of goals with majors by the hardworking Josh Taylor and Michael Whyte, but a large part of the final quarter resembled a training exercise as the Cobras shared the ball round with ease.
Cora Lynn had many good players, but no one better than ruckman Brad Horaczko, who generated many centre clearances in the vital third quarter and took countless marks a kick behind play.
The Cobras’ classy band of midfielders, led by James Bradshaw, Ryan Davey, Jesse Edmond and Chad Ingram, all had a field day after the main break, while Lee Dowsett was solid in the last line of defence.
Chris Toner, Cora Lynn’s 2008 premiership coach said they were scratchy early, but improved in the second half.
“We’ve been trying to play a new free-flowing and running game style of game and started to show it in the second half,” he said.
In the second half it was hard to find effective players for Bunyip.
Ash Walker, up from the thirds, made his presence felt, midfield Josh Taylor and ruckman Marc Rotunno tried hard, while Robbie Hughes and Jack Fitzpatrick repelled many threatening attacks in defence.
Bulldog coach Streve Henwood said he thought they played all over Cora Lynn in the first half, but didn’t have the expertise to match it with them with the ball in the third quarter.
“We produced a number of shocking turnovers which really hurt us,” he said.
It’s back to the drawing board for Bunyip this week that faces a crucial match against arch-rivals Longwarry.