Marrar have maintained their unbeaten record at Langtry Oval under Shane Lenon but not without a few nervous moments against Temora on Saturday.
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After getting on top in the first half, the home side lost their grip on the game a little after the main break, and were forced to dig in and hang for a 19-point win that had the coach letting his players know they've got some work to do yet.
The 9.14 (68) to 7.7 (49) scoreline almost flattered Marrar in the end. At least, it did their second half.
"The first half was like a final. It was high pressure and it was good footy," Lenon said.
"I wasn't very happy with our second half. Our pressure and ability to work for each other held the opposition at bay and allowed us to win. But we didn't play very good footy after half-time.
"We turned the ball over a lot and our decision-making wasn't great. And I don't think there was as much pressure in the second half either so we certainly need to look at that and maybe do some different stuff at training."
The Bombers dominated play early with most of the first quarter played in their forward 50. But five behinds and a couple of complete misses saw them down at quarter-time, after Temora went inside 50 only a handful of times and came up with two goals to Jason Reid.
But Marrar found their mojo in a thrilling second quarter, in which Zach Walgers kicked four goals. First, one from the boundary and another from the following clearance to put his side in front. Then, after the lead swapped another four times, Walgers stepped up to press home Marrar's advantage, with two in two minutes again late in the term, for a 17-point lead at half-time.
Things swung at half-time, for both teams. While Marrar's stranglehold slipped and Temora took control, the Roos went from taking most of their opportunities in the first half to breaking down when they went forward in the second.
They controlled most of the third term but only kicked 1.1 (which was matched by Marrar) leaving them still needing three goals despite a vast improvement to close down the Bombers.
Right throughout the second half, they were able to turn Marrar around but for the most part, were unable to press home their advantage with goals.
However, twice in the final quarter Reid delivered, both times bringing Temora within 12 points. And midfielder Sam Jensen looked to have cut the margin to six when he snapped from the pocket after playing on following a mark, only to be called back to take it again. He couldn't do it again, and Marrar steadied in the final six minutes, stretching a 10-point lead to 19 to rack up a fifth straight win, and fifth in a row against Temora.
Lenon didn't think his team was guilty of coasting after the break but was less than pleased with their execution.
"We answered (Temora's challenge). The margin was greater at full-time than it was at half-time," he said.
"But I don't look at the scoreboard when I'm judging footy and our second half was poor. We were a couple of goals down at quarter-time too but our pressure was there and our first quarter was quite positive."
It was youth and experience that inspired the Bombers across half-back, where teenager Drew Beavan played a big role in his return from higher duties, showing plenty of class and composure to set up attack while former captain Josh Hagar also left his mark with presence and skill.
Cal Gardner kicked a brilliant second quarter goal in his comeback from injury too but defender Mitch Taylor may have aggravated his groin concern in his return.
Temora centre-half-back Max Richardson had another big game while Jacob Turner at centre-half-forward was a constant handful, marking strongly all over the ground and also going through the middle, while young backman Will Reinhold continues to shine for the Roos.
But Temora were left to lament a disappointing second half going into their forward line. The loss saw them slip to fourth, two points behind East Wagga-Kooringal who they meet in the last round. Before then, the Roos take on the Northern Jets, Barellan and North Wagga. (The Hawks have a bye then play Marrar and The Rock-Yerong Creek before round 18).
Marrar remain second behind North Wagga on percentage, with games against CSU, EWK, Coleambally and Barellan to come.
They expect to have Truman Carroll and Adam Whyte back next week while John Hoey is back in calculations for a return. Hoey kicked 11 goals in reserve grade on Saturday despite being told he needs knee surgery. He had thought his season might be over when injured against Barellan but after three games testing it out in the twos, and doing the running in the main game, he'll come into calculations.
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