Gallery | Congupna survives Murray Football League scare to continue near-perfect record

The round 16 match between The Road (first) and the Magpies (second) was set up to be a thriller.

The two sides met earlier in the season in round eight, with The Road claiming a one-point victory away from home thanks to pocket rocket forward Kyle Mueller, who kicked five goals on the day.

Both sides came into the match in good form, with Congupna defeating premiership rival Finley and Moama beating reigning premier Mulwala in round 15.

The opening quarter was tight, with both sides kicking three goals; the Magpies had more shots and took a two-point lead into the first break.

Moama took control of the match in the second quarter, booting 3.3, while Congupna struggled with its accuracy in front of goal, kicking 1.4.

In the third term, the Magpies’ scoring slowed to a crawl, while Congupna’s accuracy improved, leaving Moama with a two-point lead (48-50) at the final break.

Moama’s Thomas Holman starred for the Magpies, booting four goals, while Mueller continued his hot form for The Road, kicking four goals to take his season-leading tally to 72 majors from 16 games — 12 goals ahead of Nathalia’s Liam Evans, who sits in second.

The Road’s accuracy woes of the second term were soon forgotten, as the home side booted 4.1 in the final term.

Meanwhile, the Magpies seemed to contract Congupna’s shakiness in front of the big sticks as they kicked themselves out of the match in the final quarter, booting 2.5.

The final score finished 11.7 (73) to 9.13 (67) in Congupna’s favour.

After one of its quieter first halves of the season — kicking only 29 points — Congupna coach Ben Bingham was proud of how his side responded against quality opposition in the third quarter.

“(After half-time) we tried to tidy up our kicks coming inside 50,” he said.

“(The Magpies) were probably making the most of their opportunities because they were getting a lot of cleaner ball inside 50.

“We just tidied up our disposal coming in and that was the most pleasing thing that we tidied that up in the third (term) and took full advantage of our inside 50s.”

Looking back on their tight one-point win over the Magpies in round eight, Bingham said his side knew it would be facing the same level of intensity and heat for the second fixture between the two sides.

“The biggest thing was their pressure last time,” he said.

“They have got a lot of experienced ex-GVL players, so it was more embracing the pressure they were going to throw at us.

“We know they are a good defensive team, so we just had to be patient with our ball movement at times.”

For The Road, the usual stars Jack Norman and Billy Cooper were influential through the middle, while Bingham said the backline stood up after a slow first quarter.

Congupna now has the bye before two rounds of football and then finals.

Sitting on top of the ladder — 18 points clear of their nearest competitors Finley and Moama — the decision now rests on Bingham and his team on how best to prepare in the last few weeks before finals.

“One thing we pride ourselves on is our depth,” he said.

“We had a couple on the weekend, where we had the luxury of giving them the extra week heading into the bye.

“That is something we are thinking of, but we don’t want to flirt with form.

“With the bye this weekend and then a bye before finals, we will be looking to get as much work into our guys as we can in this last part of the year.”

There were only two other matches at the weekend, with round 16 being another split round for the league.

Reigning premier Mulwala made light work of Tongala.

The Lions won the match by 75 points and had an even distribution of goal-kickers, with six players kicking two or more for the game.

Nathalia won its match against Barooga, also by 75 points.

The Purples now sit two points out of finals with two rounds remaining.

This weekend, Numurkah will host Cobram, Rumbalara will play Deniliquin and Finley will travel to play Echuca United.