St Joseph’s has outlasted South Barwon by 12 points to extend its Anzac Day winning streak to 11 and remain unbeaten.
The Joeys never trailed in beating the inaccurate Swans 9.8 (62) to 6.15 (51) in wet and slippery conditions at McDonald Reserve.
The victory was St Joseph’s 21st consecutive home-and-away, dating back to Round 1 last year.
“(I’m) extremely proud of the contest that they brought,” coach Ron Watt told krockfootball.live.
“But just being able to stick to a pretty simple formula across the day and compete hard, but set themselves into the right spots.
“And especially when challenged, be able to stand up.”
St Joseph’s led by as much as 23 points during the second quarter, with South Barwon struggling in front of goal.
The Swans kicked nine behinds before star forward Fraser Fort kicked two goals in time-on to cut the margin to eight points at the main break.
Joeys threatened to pull away in the third quarter, with two of best-on-ground Oscar Morrison’s four goals for the match pushing the margin back to 15 points.
However, late majors from experienced South duo Chris Hughes and Todd White cut Joeys’ lead to two points at the final change.
Two goals from St Joseph’s small forward Hunter Lewis bookended Morrison’s fourth major, putting the contest beyond the Swans’ reach.
In his 50th senior appearance, Morrison continued his impressive start to the season by taking his season goal tally to 10.
He admits his confidence as a GFNL senior player is growing.
“I think just spending more time around the club has definitely helped with that,” Morrison said.
“I stopped playing VFL last year, and then I just think spending more time around the boys, and growing into my body and just getting that experience has definitely helped with that.”
South coach Mark Neeld was left to lament his team’s inaccuracy.
“Let’s be fair, Joeys were terrific in the contest,” he said.
“But I don’t think you’re winning many games of footy when you turn up and kick 0.9 to start the day; I don’t think that’s going to help too much.
“That wasn’t the complete picture. Joey’s were great in the contest.
“Their contest-to-contest running outdid us for a little bit of time; I thought that was really impressive.
“And they were just a little bit better for longer.”
St Joseph’s win did come at a cost, with a hamstring injury set to sideline Jack Mullen for several weeks.
“That was the worst hamstring injury I’ve seen for a long time,” Watt said.
“When he fell, we just said, ‘just take him over the boundary’.
“But he’s been good for us. He’s been our best forward this year, and he’s really developed into that running forward.
“Unfortunately, we’ll find it hard to replace him, but it gives some other guys an opportunity to play.”
St Joseph’s will make its first appearance at home when it hosts Bell Park in Round 4, while South Barwon has a twilight meeting down the Princes Highway against Colac.
X: @krockfootball
