Lauderdale made to work hard for 12-point win over injury-hit Glenorchy

A third-quarter blitz was almost enough for an injury-hit Glenorchy outfit to bring down the Bombers.

From left, Ryan Banks-Smith (Glenorchy), Josh McGuinness (Lauderdale), Aiden Grace (Glenorchy) and Liam Gallagher (Lauderdale) battle for possession. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

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LAUDERDALE has denied a gallant Glenorchy its opening win of the TSL season after recovering from a torrid third quarter to sneak past the Pies at Sky Bus Oval.

The Bombers took a 15-point lead into the long break after a dour first half which yielded a total of just four goals before the visitors opened the floodgates to rattle on seven goals to three in the third stanza and snatch a nine-point advantage.

Down two midfield rotations with John Geard (knee) and Ben Kamaric (hamstring) out of action, the Pies defence – led brilliantly by captain Josh Arnold – repelled multiple attacking waves from the hosts before finally succumbing 9.13 (67) to 8.7 (55).

For 18 minutes Lauderdale peppered its forward 50m arc, which saw Sam Burge and Toutai Havea both miss straightforward set shots, for no result as the Pies dug deep to stay in the contest.

But the dam wall finally burst when ruckman Haydn Smith, playing in his 150th match, got out the back and goaled to the tie the scores entering time on.

Lauderdale’s Nicholas Raglione and Glenorchy’s Aiden Grace wrestle for the ball. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Adrian Kalcovski then put the Bombers in front three minutes later when he check sided truly from 25m in front and Tyler Martin rubber-stamped the hard-fought victory with another major just before the final siren.

“We probably wasted a lot and thought we had a fair run at it and didn’t put the scoreboard pressure on them to keep them in the game, which you can’t do with Glenorchy,” Lauderdale coach Darren Winter said.

“We probably held on at the end, which was credit to the boys.

“We were dominant in the ruck and they knew that and were trying to shark Haydn, which they were able to do well [in the third quarter] so we tried to straighten up in the last, Siggo [Sam Siggins] went in there and changed the way the game looked a little bit.”

Tongan titan Havea finished with 3.3, Kalcovski again led from the front in the middle, Smith dominated the ruck contests and Josh McGuinness for the second consecutive week provided plenty of drive from halfback.

Glenorchy was motoring in the third term until Kamaric pinged his hamstring when streaming through the middle, and to compound the two injuries Ryan Banks-Smith is likely to find himself in trouble with the tribunal for a head high hit on Mitch Anderton.

“The fight was really good, probably what cost us in the end is we went into our shells a little bit late in the second quarter when they were on top,” Pies coach Paul Kennedy said.

“We held the fort OK, but we went away from how we want to play footy and when you do that, you end up locked in your half.”

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