AUSSIE RULES: Maroochydore kept its anorexic finals hopes alive yesterday as it continued to rebound from a slump that had left its aspirations on life support.
The win over Sandgate at Fishermans Road was the Roos' second straight victory - with last weekend's 83-70 away defeat of Wilston Grange arresting a five-game losing sequence.
In wet conditions, Maroochydore led at every interval yesterday before withstanding the visitors' sustained attacking blitz in the final quarter.
Cameron Stevenson and Jarryd Hill both booted three goals for Maroochydore, and Jarrad Gale kicked two.
Maroochydore coach Brett Maloney said the Roos had played good wet-weather football.
"Get the ball forward at every opportunity and surge and use strong physical presence around the footy, and thankfully we were able to do that," he said.
"Any win sends you in the right direction, but by no means are we getting ahead of ourselves.
"We're a week by week proposition as far as what we're trying to build over the next final four games.
"(We have) a really tough one next weekend at Coolangatta but yeah, it's nice to get a couple of wins after a lean patch in the middle of the year."
Maloney said the eighth-placed Roos had to treat every game as a finals encounter.
Yesterday's win moved it to 20 points, 12 points behind the fifth-placed Western Magpies with 16 points on offer before the finals.
"We are a really slim chance (of making the finals), but we've got to hold on to anything we can," Maloney said.
"We've got to keep winning, it's a simple as that. I think as soon as we drop one we're about gone."
Maloney said Maroochydore's third-quarter performance was the most pleasing aspect of yesterday's clash as the side had been dropping off in that period in other games.
The Roos led 8.4 (52) to 6.8 (44) at half-time, before kicking five goals to two in the third quarter and extending their lead to 27 points.
"We thought we were pretty rusty in the first half and even though we were in front at half-time, we thought we could play a hell of a lot better," Maloney said.
THE Noosa Tigers lost for the 10th time this season yesterday when the Magpies thumped them 21.10 (136) to 7.12 (54).
ROOS 14.5 (89)
(C Stevenson 3, J Hill 3, J Gale 2, M Allman, J Turner, J Simpson, D Magill, M Scholard, H Smoothy)
HAWKS 11.10 (76)
(J Dickfos 2, J Giles 2, T Arnett-Hollick, P Davidson, C Dickfos, S Hines, T Watson, T Overington, M Richardson)
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/rebounding-roos-need-to-keep-momentum-going/1952952/
Written by Mark Bode for the Sunshine Coast Daily
Last Modified on 22/07/2013 13:40