The return of key men Sam Balding and Vas Seker helped Charles Sturt University stay in the finals conversation with a 29-point win against Barellan on Saturday.
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The Two Blues arrived determined to test CSU, with a five-goal opening quarter setting up a 19-point lead at the first break.
The visitors still held a two-point lead at the main break before the Bushpigs upped the ante.
They kicked six goals in the third quarter to set up a match-winning lead.
“We went in knowing they’re hard at the footy, they’re good tacklers,” CSU coach Daniel Athanitis said.
“But we were second to the ball, we didn’t tackle well and we were a bit sloppy with our skills at the start but then we lifted our intensity and that helped.”
Athanitis was pleased to get the win against an opposition he said had improved considerably since their first meeting two months ago.
The 14.7 (91) to 9.8 (62) result keeps the Bushpigs level on points with East Wagga-Kooringal (fifth) and the Northern Jets (sixth), albeit with a percentage deficit.
Rather than focus on finals, restoring pride against Marrar next week is the only goal.
“We’re probably more focussing on giving a better account of ourselves than last time we played them (which ended in a 145-point loss),” Athanitis said.
Balding’s efforts in the ruck were instrumental on Saturday, while Diarmid Cleary was strong again.
Lively forward Tom Jeffery finished with four goals while Seker’s inclusion was also valuable as he kicked three goals in his first game back after 10 weeks out.
Angus Blackwood had his best game, also kicking three along with Zac MacDonald.
Will Prowse and Mal Fernie had strong games for the Two Blues alongside the ever-reliable Matt Bernasconi and James McCabe.
After Coleambally’s win, the improved Barellan will face a task to climb off the bottom of the ladder with their last four games all against top five sides.