THE Bathurst Bushrangers Rebels escaped with a 8-8-56 to 3-13-31 win against a wasteful Young outfit in their Central West AFL showdown at Burrangong Oval on Saturday.

The struggling Saints weren’t expected to offer too much resistance against the Rebels, who had lost only twice going into their match, but they pushed the Bathurst side most of the way. 

Straighter kicking from the hosts could have seen them cause a boilover. Young were within a few points of the lead at one stage mid-way through the third quarter, but Jack Vogan played one of the best individual matches from a forward this season to spoil their hopes.

He kicked five goals in sloppy conditions to the only multiple goal-kicker on a day when pinpoint skills weren’t exactly a feature.

Vogan’s performance helped drag his team back into the game after they trailed 2-6-18 to a solitary goal at the end of the first term.

Unfortunately for Young, their kicking didn’t improve for the rest of the game and they were held goalless after half-time.

Young trailed by four points at the main break then 18 at the last change and given the way the game had gone up until that point, a fightback from that position was always unlikely. 

“We probably dodged a bit of a bullet,” Rebels co-coach Tom Regan said.

“We spent a lot of time in the forward half of the ground, but when Young took possession they were good at getting the ball forward and creating a scoring opportunity.

“Jack Vogan was absolutely immense, to kick five in those conditions was just awesome.

“I was fairly confident before the game and at no stage was I thinking that we would lose, but we did make it hard on ourselves and we had to lift a lot on our first half to earn the win.

“In the end it was probably just one of those games where you take the four points and move on without really taking much else from it.”

Regan finished the game on the bench after copping a heavy blow to the head.

“We had some good players across the board, but at the back of the field I thought Damian Cuff and Jeremy Tracey were both excellent,” he said.

“The experienced guys really stood up and they just knew how to get the ball and use it well on a day when a lot of guys were having trouble.”

The result leaves the Rebels in third spot behind the unbeaten Cowra team and the Bushrangers Outlaws.

BATHURST BUSHRANGERS REBELS 8-8-56 (Jack Vogan 5, Tom Regan, Matt Griffin, Michael Long) defeated YOUNG SAINTS 3-3-31 (Rowan Hosken, Kailupp, Taylor-Alchin, Ron Roe)