BRACKNELL moved back into the NTFA division 1 top five at the expense of Scottsdale courtesy of their 25-point victory over Longford in their regional rivalry clash at Bracknell on Saturday.
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The Redlegs started the better, kicking six goals to three in the opening quarter to lead by 16 points at quarter-time and extended their lead to 30 points at half-time.
The Tigers came out after the main break and threw everything at the Redlegs to trail by 19 points at three-quarter-time and the home team kicked four goals to three in the final quarter to run out winners 16.9 (105) to 11.14 (80).
Josh Adams put in a best-on-ground performance with eight goals up forward and coach Gary Shipton kicked five playing forward despite suffering the effects of the flu.
Adam Scott kicked two goals across half-forward and through the midfield to be another of the Redlegs’ best players. Jake Cox was good at centre half-back and Mark Edwards and Doug Pinner were other good performers.
‘‘I said pre-match that it would be a tough, scrappy game, which it was,’’ Shipton said.
‘‘To Longford’s credit, they came out after half-time and really came at us but our boys responded and we got the win.
‘‘We came out strong at the start but Longford tightened the screws on us and made it hard to get the ball into our forward line and were very good around the stoppages today.’’
Shipton said he thought his side played good football in patches but still could not produce a four-quarter effort.
‘‘We had a lot of guys crook so it was just good to get a win and we’ve had the flu go through the club in the last couple of weeks,’’ he said.
‘‘The win puts us back in the five and Scottsdale go out, which is good for us because we are aiming to play finals and Scottsdale and Rocherlea are teams that are going to be around that mark so if we can tip one of them out for the remainder of the season, it will help keep us in for the finals.’’
The Redlegs face Deloraine at Deloraine next week in what Shipton said would be a big test.
‘‘We need a good four-quarter effort against them because they are a good side and sit in second for a reason and Rory has them humming nicely.’’