THE Bathurst Bushrangers Outlaws are one win away from back-to-back Central West AFL grand final appearances after a dominant minor semi-final victory over Dubbo Demons on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Though Outlaws had gone into the sudden-death match at George Park 2 on the back of two consecutive defeats, they rose to the occasion to crush Dubbo 20-10-130 to 7-8-50.
A five-goal opening term when running into the wind, then holding the Demons scoreless in the second quarter laid the platform for victory.
Still, Bushrangers co-coach Matt Archer had not anticipated such a one-sided final margin.
“It was just one of those things, we’d had a couple of bad weeks and everyone was just sick of losing I guess,” Archer said.
“We just came out of the gates firing.
“We lost the toss and Dubbo decided to go with the wind in the first quarter. I thought it was a three or four goal wind advantage, but we came out all guns firing and kicked the first two or three goals and we had a two-goal lead at quarter-time.
“That gave us a super amount of confidence and that second quarter, I don’t think the ball got in their forward line at all. We just pounded it on, we had the use of the wind and that was it, it was pretty much over after that.”
The Outlaws booted five majors in the opening quarter as they ran into the wind, but when it was at their backs in the second half the scoreline blew out.
Not only did the hosts hold Dubbo scoreless for the term, but they kicked six goals to hold a 13-8-86 to 3-1-19 lead at the long break.
From there the Outlaws went on with the job.
In the third term the Bathurst outfit once again managed to outscore Dubbo despite running into the wind, cracking triple figures as they pushed the advantage beyond 70.
Outlaws kept the pressure on in the final term, Tim Hunter finishing with five majors, as did Cameron Richards.
“We’ve remained confident in our ability and always backed ourselves, but it’s good to get back on track and do what we are capable of,” Archer said.
“A handful of guys that have probably had a few off weeks really stood back up and played to their potential and you could tell the difference straight away.
“We were just physical, we were able to win the contested football and when we won the football, we were just clinical.
“It was a pretty big team effort, but we had Pauly Long, Adrian Hickey and Charlie Flude back and they were three big ins for us. But Michael Long, Kaleb Crowhurst, Sebastian Matheson, those guys after a couple of quite weeks they really stood up, Tom Markey as well.”
While the win ended Dubbo’s season, Outlaws advance to the preliminary final this Saturday.
For the second year running, it will be an all Bushrangers battle as the Rebels went down to Orange Tigers in the major semi-final.