Cooper Hamilton (pictured), along with brothers Wil and Hugh, starred for Rochester en route to booking a top two ladder position.
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BrucePoveyPhotos.com 2022
Fans were blessed with a potential early finals preview in round 16 of the Goulburn Valley League, as third-placed Rochester hosted the Shepparton Swans in a gripping affair.
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As per the GVL finals format, third play sixth-place in an elimination final in the first week of September, and pending results in the final two rounds of the season, we may see Rochester and the Swans battle it out again in a tenser atmosphere.
A back and forth first term saw the scores remain locked at quarter time at 15 apiece, as Hugh Hamilton started his field day inside 50 with Rochester’s first two majors.
While Hamilton and brother Wil added three more goals to the scoreboard in the second term, Swans’ Steele Simpson stepped up to the plate with two of his own, while ruckman Mark Kovacevic and Enrique Goggin also added a goal to their names, seeing the Swans take a seven-point half time advantage.
However, it was not to be a Swans stunner, rather a short scare for the Tigers who hit their straps in the second half.
“We turned over the ball a little bit in that phase of the game,” Rochester coach Ash Watson said.
“In that second quarter they outplayed us and started to win a bit of contest.
“We made a couple of minor changes but it was probably more getting back to the contest, getting busier around the ball.”
Scoring just five goals in the first sixty minutes of action, the Tigers shot out the blocks in the third term, kicking three goals inside seven minutes, before ultimately delivering an eight-goal blitz to one for the quarter.
The shell shocked Swans outfit suddenly trailed by 33 at the final change despite their first half efforts placing a boilover victory on the cards.
A Wil Hamilton goal kicked off fourth quarter proceedings to establish a game-high 39-point advantage for the Tigers, but the Swans would return to their first-half best for the rest of the last period, allowing Rochester to only extend their three-quarter-time margin by a further two points, winning 17.5 (107) to 10.12 (72).
Nevertheless, Rochester’s third quarter blitzkrieg had done the damage, thrusting the Tigers inside the top two after Echuca’s round 16 defeat to Shepparton.
Hugh Hamilton finished the game in seventh heaven, while brothers Wil (three goals) and Cooper Hamilton (one) also starred in the yellow sash.
Although results could still potentially fall out of favour with the Tigers, Rochester host Benalla before travelling to Tatura in the final rounds of the season, highly favouring a top two finish on the season, and therefore a double chance.
Watson said the Tigers were aiming for a 14-win year in the pre-season, with hopes it would land a top three finish, but a lighter fortnight to finish the season suggests Rochester will exceed their expectations.
“We won’t be taking them (Benalla and Tatura) lightly at all, but if we keep playing the way we’ve been playing we can hopefully book a top two position,” Watson said.
The Swans close out their year against Euroa and Kyabram and are all but certain to finish sixth come season’s end.
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