BFNL: Storm does enough to fend off gallant Tigers

A five-goal burst to finish the first quarter proved to be decisive in a game that was a defensive grind after half-time.

Star forward Lachlan Sharp was a shock late inclusion for the Storm and he kicked three goals in the 12.11 (83) to 9.12 (66) win.

"I thought our midfield, particularly late in the game, was telling,'' Storm co-coach Darryl Wilson said.

"We went into the game without a genuine ruckman and we copped a couple of injuries.

"We had to fight really hard because Kyneton, to their credit, just kept coming at us."

Much like the clash between the two teams in round three, Kyneton made a blistering start and jumped the Storm.

The home side kicked the first two goals of the game before the Storm found their mojo and scored five unanswered goals to finish the opening quarter 20 points in front.

"We made some adjustments in the midfield after they dominated the first half of the quarter,'' Wilson said.

"It was a pretty good win all things considered.

"It was a danger game for us. Kyneton have beaten Golden Square and Sandhurst down there and they're a hard team to stop.

"I thought it was a day where we had all 22 players contribute, which you can't always say.

"We had to grind it out and it was pleasing the way we did that."

Kyneton coach Paul Chapman was proud of the way his side bounced back from the heavy defeat to Gisborne the previous round.

"We were poor against Gisborne, so there were some really good signs in the way the boys went about it this week,'' Chapman said.

"We got back to playing something like the way we know we can play.

"I'm not about honourable losses, but we did show that we can mix it with the best teams in the competition.

"There's some things we need to clean up in our game and it's one that we could have possibly won.

"If we can be more consistent for longer in games then we will win games against the top teams.

"Strath are a really good team and they play a high level of footy, so I was really proud of our boys."

Strath's midfield dynamos Cal McCarty and Jake Moorhead were once again best for their team.

McCarty picked up 33 possessions, while Moorhead had 35 touches - 16 of which were contested.

Kal Geary (27 possessions and one goal) and key forward James Schischka (18 possessions, 11 marks and three goals) had big impacts on the game.

Kyneton named James Gaff (21 possessions) as its best player.

Ruckman James Orr took advantage of the Storm's lack of height to fill the stats sheet with 16 possessions, 13 clearances and 45 hit-outs. Rhys Magin (4.3) was the leading goalkicker on the ground.

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