AFL Central West: Matt Archer's eight goals help Bathurst Bushrangers beat Orange Tigers

Bushrangers played all over the Tigers in a 16-11-107 to 3-2-20 victory at Cowra's Mulyan Oval, keeping their faint hopes of a minor premiership alive in the process.

The win gave Bushrangers the Byrne-Long Trophy for 2021, named in honour of Mark Byrne and Chris Long, and was an ideal offensive performance for the club in the run towards finals.

Archer also kicked a couple of behinds in an accurate day in front of goal, meaning he outscored the Tigers on his own - three times over.

He was quick to play down his efforts and praised the work of his teammates in creating so many scoring opportunities.

"I was just a bit lucky to get on the end of a couple. Kolby [McMahon] at full forward handed me off a couple after he competed well in two or three-on-ones and I was on the end of a couple of great handballs," he said.

"It was a great team effort and it was great to find a lot of space. I was just the lucky recipient from all their work."

Bushrangers kept the Tigers off the board in the opening quarter while piling on 33 points of their own before the first break.

The momentum didn't stop in the slow conditions at Cowra as the Bathurst men ran out to a 58 to seven lead at half-time.

From there it was a done deal as Michael Long also got himself on the score sheet in a big way, with four majors of his own.

The brilliant start was greatly appreciated by Archer.

"The focus was getting off to a strong start. We're getting closer to finals so we need to make sure that we're starting strong and that we can roll on from there with four quarters of good footy," he said.

"We had the wind behind our backs at the start but the way that we were able to win the ball and use it out of the centre was the difference. We were locked in and we made the most of our chances when going forward.

"It was muddy and sloshy underfoot with a strong breeze at one end of the ground so to put on a score like that was a real positive. It was great to see us kicking so accurately as well."

Several Bushrangers players look to be hitting their best form at the right time of the season.

"Michael Long was fantastic in the midfield, and he was able to kick four goals from the midfield," Archer said.

"Andy James was named best on ground for the Bryne-Long trophy, so he was fantastic out of the centre as well.

"Kolby may have only kicked two goals at full forward but the amount of chances he created, while always being heavily involved in everything, was fantastic."

Scott Jablonskis and Nath Swards kicked the remaining goals for the Bushrangers.

Saturday's success means Bushrangers maintain their unbeaten run against the Tigers this season.

The win sees Bushrangers still remain two wins adrift of Bathurst Giants with two rounds remaining.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: