Congupna hands Tongala second straight defeat with stunning upset victory

By Zac Standish

Jun 7, 2022

Don’t argue: Tongala's Cameron Ilett pushes off the tackle. Photo by Steve Huntley

For the first time since April 19, 2019, fortress Tongala has been breached — with a young and daring Congupna side delivering the killer blow in the upset of the Murray Football League season.

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Coming into this clash off the back of their first loss since the 2019 grand final, the Blues were unable to produce the response the football fraternity expected, with the Road’s intense pressure guiding them to a memorable 14.8 (92) to 9.12 (66) triumph.

Showcasing the form when it nearly knocked off Tongala five weeks earlier, it was a true four-quarter performance from Congupna, with nine goals between forward duo Jak Trewin (five) and Daniel Schaper (four) the catalyst for the victory.

After the Road’s fourth consecutive victory, and first against a fellow top six side this season, coach Kevin O’Donoghue said his team produced a near perfect performance.

“I am extremely proud of the guys, the biggest thing was the focus on Saturday was to make sure we had all 22 players contributing, that’s how you beat sides like Tonny and that is exactly what we did,” O’Donoghue said.

“It was as good a performance I would have hoped to see from our team, our pressure game was on from the start and we limited their ability to move the ball through the middle of the ground.”

In the wars: Tongala's Nick Jamieson takes possession. Photo by Steve Huntley

Blues coach Jordan Souter said his side had hit a form slump, but he claimed it was too early to write off Tongala.

“A lot of people will probably start to write us off, but within our playing group we know we’re better than what we’ve been performing,” Souter said.

“We just have to keep working on the basics and get back to playing basic footy.

“(Congupna) definitely outworked us, both ways they worked really hard.

“We’re just not finding our best footy, and it’s come to show against the good sides — you have to play good footy to beat them.

“We just have to find the spark again.”

Souter said his side would need to improve, with the gap between the Blues and the rest of the competition narrowing.

“We’ve been up for a long time and every club is out to beat us, they’ve got nothing to lose,” he said.

“We’ve always been hunted these last few years, but now they’re finally getting a hold of us.

“We have got to find a way to get better.”