Cobram rolled into town with a point to prove and, in the aftermath of a feisty final exchange, the Tigers had done precisely that.
The umpire bared yellow and red cards at the end of a feeling-filled Murray Football League clash, putting an exclamation point on a gritty day that went the way of the visiting party.
Following the 15.10 (100) 10.11 (71) victory, Cobram co-coach Tyron Baden was largely pleased with how his charges conducted themselves.
“We played our own style of footy and I was pretty happy,” he said.
“There was a fair few incidents going on, so I was pretty happy we stayed pretty disciplined — that was the main thing.
“There was a fair bit of stuff going on off the ball and a big fight at the end, so I was just glad our boys didn’t get into trouble or anything like that, they just flew the flag and that was it.”
Fisticuffs aside, the game was a genuine arm wrestle throughout the first term.
Cobram edged ahead 22-9 with main man Jackson Trengove getting on the end of three majors and from there the match dialled up a notch or two.
Simply put, both sides threw caution to the wind and went hell for leather.
An 11-goal second term went Cobram’s way as a shootout of sorts took place and the Tigers continued to tick over while limiting Numurkah’s opportunities in the third quarter to lead by 28 points at the last break.
Baden said the second-quarter flurry was a product of both sides' willingness to break forward as well as the fine playing conditions.
“I think the weather helped both sides with that,” he said.
“There wasn’t many contests, it was just free-flowing footy. They had a little run for a bit, but we stuck to our guns and ended up grinding it out.”
Cobram maintained its lead throughout the final term and, though the end had some fire in store, the Tigers walked off the ground with a crucial four points in the bag.
Trengove rounded out with six goals for the day, earning praise from Baden for his versatile performance against a hardy Blues outfit.
“He came into the game and he had impact from the word go,” Baden said.
“I think he kicked three or four in the first quarter and went on with it from there.
“We had to throw him in the ruck a little bit and he was good.”
Baden also heaped plaudits on Bailey Roberts and Fergus Pinnuck in aiding the Tigers to victory over a fellow finals candidate and with two big games left to go, the hard work is far from done yet.
Cobram (fifth) eyes off matches against Finley (second) and Mulwala (fourth) to end the home and away campaign, with Baden quietly confident his boys have the guts to hold post inside the top six.
“If we just stick to the way we want to play and don’t worry too much about them, it’ll go a long way to helping us do what we need to do,” he said.
“It’s going to be a challenge, but I think the boys should be pretty confident going in anyway.”
In the split round’s other games, Rumbalara felt the full force of Deniliquin as Todd Gallagher and Angus Durnan combined for 10 goals during a 17.12 (114) to 7.7 (49) win.
Meanwhile, Finley crushed Echuca United 22.18 (150) to 3.0 (18) to further cement its holding in second behind ladder leader Congupna.
