SATURDAY didn't deliver the prettiest brand of Aussie rules but Bathurst Bushrangers did at least end their AFL Central West men's tier one game against Dubbo Demons in style to come away 66 point winners.
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Bushrangers won the clash at South Dubbo Oval 15-12-102 to 5-6-36, booting six of their goals in the final term while restricting the Demons to just a single behind over the same period.
The visitors were far from being considered home and hosed carrying just a 25 point lead into the last quarter but the Bushrangers produced their best football when it mattered most.
Bushrangers co-coach Matt Archer said it's not going to be a game his side looks back on with a great deal of admiration, although he's happy with the way his teammates lifted late.
"I think we were good without being great in the first half and we came out of the third quarter disappointed with our effort there. The guys really wanted to bounce back in the last quarter because we weren't happy with our efforts," he said.
"The way were executing in that third quarter wasn't great so it was good to see us bounce back."
Demons outscored Bushrangers 15 to 13 in the third term and threatened to make a comeback after their slow start.
It took a while for the Bushrangers to get their rhythm going in attack.
"The effort was there, I just think we didn't get our structures right," he said.
"We weren't thinking about it and just blazing the ball away. We talked about that through the week about getting that right but in the third quarter we resorted back to that and that was really disappointing.
The way were executing in that third quarter wasn't great so it was good to see us bounce back.
- Matt Archer
"At least through the first half we were trying to kick the ball short and pick our way through. In the third quarter we didn't, but we went back to that in the fourth quarter and it worked really well.
"We need to get ourselves into that mindset from the get-go moving forward."
Bushrangers were playing their first full game of the season minus Tim Hunter and were without the likes of Peter Grundy, Nathan Swards and Andrew James for the trip to Dubbo.
It gave several players the chance to gain extra minutes and some were able to make an impression.
"We had a lot of guys missing so a couple of guys got their chance up in this game and they really stood up. They're going to make it hard moving forward," Archer said.
"Alex Sparks finally got a crack and he was a shining point. Luke Newman was great as well. They really made the most of their opportunity and they will more than likely get another crack this weekend."
BATHURST BUSHRANGERS 15-12-102 (Kolby McMahon 4, Grady Tapping 3, James Smith 2, Bill Watterson 2, Matt Archer, Sam Kennedy, Alex Sparks, Riley Holland) defeated DUBBO DEMONS 5-6-36 (Josh Anasis, Arend Boog, Jospeh Hedger, Jarred Clark, Ned Randall)
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