Bulls lament lost opportunity after Tigers defeat

Mt Barker coach Brad Hook is frustrated by his side’s mixed form after they conceded six goals in a costly third term as Railways went on to score a vital 21-point win in horrible conditions at Tigerland on Saturday afternoon.

Hook lamented the third quarter where his side were unable to stem the flow of Tigers goals, a week after producing a strong victory over Royals.

“We really struggle when teams get a run on; we can’t seem to stop it,” Hook said.

“That 10-15 minute period in the third term left us chasing tail and Railways really took us to school in the wet conditions.

“We are up and down — thrashed by North Albany then do what we did against Royals last week and then for us to drop off again.

“It was such a missed oppor-tunity for us. That (game) could have put us in the box seat for top two.”

Strong wind and persistent rain and hail played havoc for both sides but the Bulls began brightly as goals to John Lee and Brent Parsons in the first term against the stiff breeze helped the visitors lead at quarter-time.

The Tigers worked their way back into the contest with the first three goals but veteran Sam Lehmann and livewire Kym Monteath ensured the Bulls held a single-point advantage at half-time.

However, the third term proved decisive as the Tigers took total control; they had three goals inside four minutes of play and finished with six unanswered goals to open up a 38-point buffer.

Kenton Gibbs snared his third and midfielder Joel Want, who had been busy throughout, snared two goals in the dominant stanza as the home side made full use of the wind.

The Bulls needed a big final term but sprayed a couple of chances to start the quarter with three points and despite two goals they fell short, 6.8 (44) to 10.5 (65).

Bulls’ Luke Hammond was red carded inside the final two minutes after allegedly striking Tigers’ Jayden Scott. Hammond was reported as a result and will front the tribunal on Thursday night.

Monteath was clearly limited by a hamstring injury while Tigers’ Zak Hortin succumbed to a hamstring injury.

The Tigers were well led by midfielder Want, captain Bodhi Stubber, Ethan Knee and Gibbs while Darren Humble and Peter Taylor were the Bulls best contributors.