Cobram roars back to form

The return of Puckett gave his players the lift they needed, as Cobram produced its best 90-minute performance of the season on the way to a 6-0 win.

The game started with Cobram enjoying a large amount of possession.

The pace of Jake Kalz, Kieran O’Donnell and Toby Wane was causing the Wangaratta defence all sorts of problems.

Wane and Kalz both hit the woodwork within the first 15 minutes.

Cobram took the lead after an excellent team move saw O’Donnell stride on to a smart through ball from Puckett, before composing himself and beating the keeper with a fine finish into the bottom corner.

Wangaratta lifted briefly after falling behind. The Cobram defence, which was well marshalled by Jack Dovey and his young apprentice Ted Thomas, dealt comfortably with anything that was thrown at them.

Cobram doubled its lead when Jordan Nankiville released Kalz, who was bearing down on goal before being fouled. The referee had no option but to point to the penalty spot. O’Donnell took on the responsibility and sent the keeper the wrong way.

The remainder of the first half played out with the Roar continuing to have the bulk of possession and looking dangerous every time they went forward.

The second half started the same way as the first, with Martin Louchet and Nankiville now looking to get forward to add to the attack.

A fine passing move from defence through midfield allowed Wane to split the Wangaratta defence for O’Donnell to complete his hat-trick. O’Donnell added his and Cobram’s fourth shortly after with an almost identical team build-up, getting on the end of an excellent through-ball from Kalz.

The frustration was now building for Wangaratta, which had a player sent off after a poor challenge on Nankiville.

This allowed Cobram much more space through the midfield, with Jackson Tasso and Clement Perrot more than happy to continue playing in quality passes to the strikers. O’Donnell got on the end of one such pass to score his fifth goal of the game.

The scoring was not over, with Puckett adding a sixth after O’Donnell turned provider.

This was the last action, as the referee brought an end to what was a good afternoon for Cobram.

Full Sunday results:

Division 1 Men: 6-0 (win)

Division 2 Men: 0-0

Division 3 Men: 2-2

Division 2 Women: 2-1 (W)

Under-16 Boys: 1-4 (L)

Under-14 Boys: 9-1 (W)

Under-14 Girls: 1-2 (L)

Under-13 Boys: 8-1 (W)

Under-12 Yellow: 1-3 (L)

Under-12 Black: 5-1 (W)