Launceston has banked a valuable four competition points, but Blues coach Sam Lonergan was left unsatisfied from Saturday’s nailbiting late win over Tigers.
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Sonny Whiting would dribble the winner 35 metres out, three minutes from time to ensure the Windsor Park hosts breathed a little easier, now a game and whopping percentage clear inside the top five from Hobart City.
But shocking kicking on an overcast day almost proved their downfall in the 8.20 (68) to 9.9 (63) victory.
“I thought we played our worst game of the year,” a sidelined Lonergan said.
“From an internal point of view where we’re going after things we want to go after, we just didn’t implement, we didn’t reach any form of our targets we wanted to go after.
“I thought it was a pretty poor game and we were very lucky to get away with a win.”
The sides had traded first-term goals, but Launceston scored one from just its next eight attempts on goal to only extend the quarter-time margin from two to seven points and welcome Tigers back into the contest.
Connor Smith, the 18-year-old in just his third State League appearance, kicked the only goal and provided a rare spark for the Blues across the ground.
But Tigers had twin targets Hugh Dixon and Brandon Batchelor on the end of every dangerous forward surge.
“Tigers came really well prepared and played fantastically well at an opposition ground,” Lonergan said.
“Our game though was pretty messy; we were very lucky to get across the line.
“We did have about 10 plus scoring shots, so we did miss a lot of opportunities.
“But at the same time, we were very fumbly and turned the ball over a lot and gave away some easy goals.”
Tigers peppered the goals vigilantly in the third quarter and, in a game where the margin was never extended past than 12 points, the visitors could have been up more than a solitary one.
But some late-game heroics from Jimmy Aganas across half-back, drifting in front to grab telling marks, and Jake Hinds’ continual four-quarter effort saved the Blues day.