Barellan enjoyed a few firsts with their 84- point win against Coleambally on Saturday, claiming their maiden win of the season, breaking a drought which stretched back to round one last year, and their first victory at home in more than two years.
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The Two Blues dominated after quarter-time, kicking 18 goals to three, to compound Coleambally’s tough season with a staggering 19.11 (125) to 5.11 (41) scoreline.
“It was fantastic to get a win on the board,” co-coach Matt Irvin said. “We’ve been a long time working towards it, that was for sure.”
Forward, and new father, James McCabe had an outstanding game, finishing with five goals as well as rotating through the middle.
“He was definitely our best-on-ground, he took some really good marks and his ball use around the ground was great,” Irvin said.
Across half-back, Matt Bernasconi was also influential, taking plenty of intercepts and setting them up to go forward.
But the comprehensive win was as much the result of how far their teammates have come this year.
“There was no real secret, we just had more contributors,” former coach Will Overs said.
“Everyone played their role. It was reward for effort. We’ve been chipping away at it for a while now so it’s good to get a result in our favour.
“And not just reward for the players but for the community as well.”
Tom Morton was Coleambally’s best while Chris Cerato and Tom Groves were also good.
Despite the margin, Overs said it wasn’t until late in the game that he started to feel comfortable that the win would be theirs.
“Personally I didn’t feel completely in control until halfway through the last quarter,” Overs said. “They’ve got some good players, Tom Morton and Chris Cerato, and it wouldn’t take much for them to be able string a few goals together.”
Barellan’s win sets up a huge game at Peter Hastie Oval next week, as they travel to take on CSU – the only other team they've had a win against since returning to the league at the start of 2015.
Coleambally face the daunting task of trying to stop North Wagga next week.
