It was one of the Tigers’ less impressive outings of the season on April 12, when Mooroopna pushed them to within seven points at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve.
There were no such issues for Ash Watson’s men this weekend in the return fixture at Moon Oval, his side crushing the Cats’ hopes quickly in a clinical first-half effort.
Mooroopna was completely shut out of the game in the opening hour, as Rochester’s defensive unit was firing on all cylinders.
The attacking group wasn’t far behind, and the Tigers earned a 50-0 half-time lead off the back of pairs of goals from Wil Hamilton, Hamish Heine and James McPhee.
The Cats finally found something after the main break, and on top Rochester wasn’t able to maintain the ruthless intensity of the first half shut-out.
Offensively, the Tigers were a little less lethal in front of the sticks, their behinds total doubling their goals in the second half.
Still, Rochy would edge a back-and-forth half by a point to record a 51-point victory, 12.18 (90) to 6.3 (39).
Hamilton finished as the side’s scoring leader with four, while Heine (3) and McPhee (2), remained the only Tigers to strike more than once.
“I guess that’s one of our strengths, our defensive end, and the first half I was really pleased with how we defended and put pressure on them coming back the other way,” Watson said.
“After half-time we let them get back into the game, so I was a bit disappointed with the second half, but very happy with how we set up the first half.”
Watson said his side didn’t come out of the sheds in the second half with the same fire it had brought to the first, an understandable reaction from a side up 50-0.
“Maybe just a mindset thing, we didn’t come out as intense as we did in the first half,” he said.
“Maybe we just thought it was going to happen. To Mooroopna’s credit, they came out strong and put some pressure on us and got a few scores going back the other way.”
The round 13 split round continues next weekend, with Rochy getting some useful time off.
The Tigers will return to action for round 14 on July 19, visiting Euroa.
The Magpies are in a similar position to the just-dispatched Cats, a side that was a finals contender last season, but has fallen off the pace this year.
That game will be followed by top six encounters with Mansfield and Shepparton Swans, before the Tigers wind down their regular season against two of the bottom three in Benalla and Tatura.
The Game
Scores
Rochester: 3.2, 7.8, 9.14, 12.18 (90)
Mooroopna: 0, 0, 4.0, 6.3 (39)
Goals
Rochester: Wil Hamilton 4, Hamish Heine 3, James McPhee 2, Hugh Hamilton, Dillon Williams, Sean Williams
Mooroopna: Logan Campbell 2, Kobie Issell 2, Liam Sanders, Kade Walker
Best
Rochester: Mitchell Trewhella, Hamish Heine, Wil Hamilton, Nate Rasmussen, Dylan Gordon
Mooroopna: Ben Hicks, Kai Madgwick, Ben Woods, Campbell McElhinney, Jack Osborne
8°C