The Tigers were on song from the first bounce at Moon Oval, carving up the Eagles to the tune of 86 points in the 20.14 (134) to 6.12 (48) win.
Having been made to work until the final siren for their 15-point victory last week against Euroa, the Tigers got out to an early advantage thanks to a five-goal-to-two first term, two of those coming from Mitch Cricelli, as they carried a 19-point lead into the first break.
Nine scoring shots in the second quarter yielded another five goals for the home side, while restricting an inaccurate Mansfield to 1.4, as they pushed the margin out to 43 points by the time the siren sounded to signal half time.
To the Eagles’ credit, they picked the intensity up in the third term to win the quarter, albeit by just two points, as they tried to claw back some of the ground they had given away in the first half.
But Rochester, viewed by many observers as a potential premiership threat this season, showed exactly why they are seen that way with a withering burst in the final term that blew the game to pieces.
A 41-point lead at the final break morphed into the eventual 86-point triumph courtesy of an 8.5 to 1.2 final term from the Tigers, with their final quarter efforts not only accounting for more than half the total margin, but the 53 points they put on the board also eclipsed Mansfield’s total score for the entire contest.
A game-high five goals to Mitch Cricelli has the big man up into outright second in the league’s leading goal-kicker race with 15 for the season, two behind Shepparton’s Lewis McShane, while skipper Wil Hamilton provided another brilliant option, finishing his day with a three-goal haul.
Matt Kellett earned best-on-ground honours for the Tigers, slotting two goals, joined in the best by Hamish Hooppell, Mitch Trewhella, Grant Fuller and Cricelli.
James McPhee, Nash Ramage and Kyle Waters each slotted two goals in the win, while Hugh Hamilton, Ryan O’Keefe, Sean Williams and Tobie Woodfine all bagged one each, rounding out the 10 individual goal-kickers for Rochester.
Matthew King battled hard for Mansfield as the Eagles’ best in the loss, while Cody George was the only visitor to kick multiple goals, slotting two.
Rochester will face a red-hot Shepparton Swans this weekend at Princess Park in what looms as a big showdown between two sides yet to taste defeat, while Mansfield will look to regroup and return to the winners’ list, although it faces a tough opponent in Kyabram away from home.
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