Sea Eagles ‘Dust’ off Warragul for revenge

INVERLOCH KONGWAK were primed and ready on Saturday afternoon when they welcomed the Warragul Industrials down the road for a rematch of last season’s Elimination Final. 

Warragul were without star goal kicker Mason McGarrity, who finished towards the top end of the league’s goal scorers list in 2022. 

As many had expected the match itself began as an arm wrestle inside, with neither team really asserting any ascendancy in the opening moments, although the host’s half backs racked up plenty of the ball early. 

The sensational trio of Tom Hams, Lewis Rankin and Tate Short were the first ones to really take control of the contest, counterattacking the Dusties’ drives and setting IK up going the other way. 

The opening 10 minutes of the second term were much the same as both sides kept crashing in hard on the inside and tried to move the ball with speed into the space on the outer, but neither could do so with any real consistency. 

Because of this, the game was at a tipping point at the halfway point of the second quarter, as tension grew around the ground, all those in attendance just got the feeling that the side who gains control and consistency with the ball could really break away and open the floodgates.

And that’s exactly what Inverloch Kongwak did, finding their feet they got their trademark run and carry going, linking up beautifully from defence thanks again to the likes of Rankin, Hams and Short to pour on four goals in just under 15 minutes, opening up a 40-point lead.

This flurry of goals showed just how potent and dangerous the Sea Eagles can be when given the opportunity, but it didn’t deter the brave Dusties, who answered late in the term with Ogden’s second major. 

This gave them a slice of momentum going into the main break, even though there were visible cracks in their dam wall, going in 34-points down. 

Despite Ogden’s momentum stealing goal to lead Warragul into halftime, they failed to mount any sort of comeback in the third, which was well and truly owned by the home side. 

It was a complete team showing in the third to set up the big, incomparable lead, even debutant Bertacco getting his fair share of the action, competing admirably up forward alongside Mahoney and

Oscar Toussaint who were superb, each finishing with three majors. 

But the Dusties scoreless third term was all thanks to the IK defence that looked impenetrable, especially due to their self-inflicted wounds, as a result of continued disconnection between midfielders and forwards and poor skill errors. 

The host’s 55-point three quarter time lead was extended to a 75-point win as Rankin and the Sea Eagles ran rampant in the fourth.

IK now move to five and zero on the young season and sit a win clear on top of the ladder, setting up an interesting clash with the second placed Dalyston this weekend on the road.