Torrential rain and howling winds could not stop Echuca’s march towards a Goulburn Valley League double chance at the weekend.
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Although when thunder and lightning descended upon the clash between the Murray Bombers and Rochester at Victoria Park early in the second quarter the match was put on hold for about 30 minutes as the worst of the storm cleared.
It was the home side that picked up where the weather left off after the break, producing a damaging display of football and booting four majors within 10 minutes to help secure win number 11 for the season.
‘‘It’s the first time I’ve been involved in a game where it’s been called off due to weather,’’ Echuca co-coach Andrew Walker said.
‘‘But you only had to look around at the boys, they were watching the door waiting to get back out there. Their mindset was exactly what we wanted, they were ready to go.
‘‘The excitement and the buzz within our group, it was sort of like when you play under-14s footy and they let you keep playing in the rain, it’s no different at senior level.’’
It was Echuca’s big men who made the difference across the ground in the 41-point victory, with the likes of Jobee Warde, Cam Valentine, Daniel Willis and Walker himself standing tall.
‘‘When it’s wet weather footy, we spoke about that we wanted our keys to go for their grabs,’’ Walker said.
‘‘A lot of teams talk about punching the ball on, but our keys are so rock solid that we felt we could get an advantage by ... marking the ball.
‘‘Jobee Warde, what an amazing talent.
‘‘He had to ruck all day on his own considering Kane Morris was out, and he did it at an unbelievable standard. In one quarter the hit-outs were 13-5 our way.’’
Jordan Frew was also lively in the forward line, with Cooper Barber and Noah Wheeler impressing alongside him.
The only concern for the Murray Bombers — who with victory retained their 14-point advantage over third spot on the table — was a lower-leg injury to Darby Henderson in the final stanza after a clash of shins, but the VFL-listed midfielder was not expected to miss a match.
Rochester battled hard all game, with the likes of James Gledhill, Daniel Hill, Nathan Marrone and coach James Flaherty standing out, but could not manage to bridge the gap between the two sides.
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