Patrick Barry and Dipesh Kandel in a duel. Photos by Jordan Townrow.
The Deni Wanderers are home for an Anzac Day clash on Saturday, after a 14 goal blockbuster match against the Echuca Moama Border Raiders last week.
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In the Men’s Football Victoria Bendigo League 2 opener, the Wanderers went down, 9-5, at Jack Eddy Oval in Moama.
Deni got a full side on the ground, but was unable to come away with the result in a competitive match.
Tey were missing two primary goalkeeping options however, with Matt Crothers and Masen Brain both unavailable.
The travelling Wanderers shocked the hosts when Mark Rourke found the net after two minutes.
The Border Raiders responded immediately with an equaliser from Patrick Barry, before recruit Clayton Scott opened his account for Echuca-Moama with a long-range strike to flip the scoreline on its head after 15 minutes.
From there, it was all one-way traffic, as the Raiders found the back of the net a further five times by the 40th minute.
Lungani Nyembe scored just before the interval with a low strike into the bottom-left corner to offer some respite for Deniliquin, who trailed 7-2 heading into the second half.
Nyembe had a brace in the 65th minute, but any hope of a miraculous comeback was immediately thwarted when Herman and Wanesiofa completed braces of their own for the Border Raiders shortly afterwards.
Echuca-Moama led 9-3 heading into the final 20 minutes, with the three points effectively secured.
However, Deniliquin kept coming, first with a Dipesh Kandel penalty before Nyembe completed his hat-trick in the 77th minute to conclude the scoring leading to a 9-5 win for the Raiders.
The Wanderers have a chance to bounce back tomorrow when they host Swan Hill from 2pm at Deniliquin Rotary Park.
Crothers, who is Wanderers president, said the timing allows for people to attend services before the game begins.
Crothers said the Wanderers are expecting a challenge against Swan Hill, who are second on the ladder, but he’s hoping for a stronger defensive performance at home.
“We expect a strong showing from them. They’ve won the league a few times before, and they’re usually pretty strong.
“I’m sure they’ll still send across a pretty strong side to play against us.
“Jacob Hird did a good job in goals on Saturday, but this week we’ve got myself back in as goalkeeper, and hopefully, I’ll save a few more than nine goals.
“Masen Brain is also set to return as another option and is a big in for us.”
Samuel Wanesiofa pressures the pass by Babis Basnet.
Samuel Wanesiofa and Mark Rourke tussle for possession.
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