The Cowra Blues and Bathurst Bushrangers left nothing on the field in a fiery round nine Central West AFL clash at Mulyan Oval on Saturday afternoon.
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Both sides shared the ascendancy but it was the Bushrangers’ fitness that allowed them to streak ahead in the final half and close out the match 6.19 (55) to 16.9 (105).
Despite the loss, the Blues took plenty away from the match which saw them trailing by less than three goals at the main break.
“Really competitive for three quarters,” Cowra Blues coach Steve Boyd said.
“The final quarter our lack of fitness unfortunately showed, the scoreline doesn’t reflect how competitive we were,” he said.
Bathurst’s seven majors in the final quarter blew the winning margin to 50-points as they clicked into gear and completely dominated possession.
Captain Matt Archer was happy with the result but is wary of coming up against the Blues further down the track this season.
“You always know especially when Cowra’s at home, and they will have their older and more experienced players in the team, they will be hard to play and they really brought it today,” Archer said.
“It’s the second time we’ve played them here and second close result.
“Come finals time you can’t underestimate them, they can play really good footy,” he said.
After taking an early 10-point lead, the Bushrangers were forced to defend the majority of the second stanza but the Blues were unable to capitalise missing multiple chances to potentially take the lead.
Bathurst’s counter-attack was fluent and a few late goals gave them the momentum at half-time.
Another tough quarter followed but the Bushies managed three majors - for the third time in the match - and the lead extended to 30 before seven majors in the final quarter ballooned that figure to 50.
Frustration began to sneak into the Blues as they only added a further two goals to end the match.
Bathurst’s Cameron Richards finished with four six-pointers and captain Archer booted three while Ethan Simpson kicked two for the Blues.
This weekend Cowra will host Dubbo for the third time this season while the Bushrangers head to Orange for a mouthwatering top of the table clash.
Bathurst Bushrangers 16.9 (105) def Cowra Blues 6.19 (55).
