Cobras’ deadly form- Cora Lynn’s Brad Horaczko and Lang Lang’s Kurt Batt clash at a ruck conte

By Ken Moore
CORA LYNN belied its poor practice match form and reinforced it will still be a power again this season after thrashing Lang Lang by 68 points on Saturday.
The Tigers fought hard all game, but were outscored in every quarter.
New Cobra recruits Beau Runnalls (eight goals) and Matt Robinson (seven goals) showcased their talent and thrilled the crowd with their exquisite skill and some spectacular marks.
Cora Lynn, the home side, led from go to whoa and started well with goals by Runnalls and Dan O’Hara inside the first three minutes and never looked back.
With constant drive through the middle by Jack Allen, Jimmy Bradshaw, Anthony Giuliano, wingman Chase Saunders and half-backs Michael Duiker and Craig Taylor, the Cobras raced to a five-goal lead early in second quarter.
With plenty of the ball it appeared as though it was going to put the game to bed well before the main break.
Credit should go to Lang Lang for reducing the gap to only three goals midway through the quarter thanks to majors by new recruits Jarrod Tonks, Ben Dwyer and Bryce Tonks and another to star forward Kurt Batt, which kept the visitors in the hunt until deep in time on.
This was before Runnalls hauled in two marks and converted his fourth and fifth goals to give the Cobras a handy 32-point lead at half-time.
Cora Lynn took total control of the game with an eight-goal-to-two third term and finished well with a further seven goals in the last.
Robinson, from Mulgrave and son of former Springvale VFA star Keith, started slowly, but lit up the game with six second-half goals in a display that is likely to ensure he draws a key defender every week.
Runnalls scored three second-half goals, but it was his five first-half majors that inflicted the damage.
Tough ruck-rover Jack Allen kept his head over the ball all game, wingman Jimmy Bradshaw was his usual busy self and youngster Luke Foreman chimed in with four goals and hinted he is about to take his game to another level this season.
Star recruit Lincoln Withers started well in the middle with plenty of early touches, but spent a lot of time across the forward line and played a rather subdued game by his high standards.
Cora Lynn coach Chris Toner said that with a new look side they moved the ball well.
“I was really pleased with the games from two of our youngsters, Luke Foreman and Nick Helsby, who both added plenty of enthusiasm,” he said.
Lang Lang kicked eight goals in the last quarter to take some confidence into this week’s clash against Neerim Neerim South.
Tall Rosebud recruit Ben Dwyer demonstrated he will be one of the premier ruckman in the league.
He showed great agility for his size, produced some exceptional tap work and when moved forward he proved to be no slouch around goals snagging four to be the Tigers most productive goal kicker.
Stuart Casey marked Withers all game and made him earn every kick, while Jason Kelly turned back a number of attacks.
Berwick recruit Bryce Tonks was lively, forwards Aiden Brown and Clint Fulton won their fair share of disposals and David Williams offered plenty of drive out of defence in the first half.
Lang Lang coach Clint Evans said he was disappointed they conceded eight goals from turnovers.
“They had too many blokes with far bigger bodies which took its toll on our young side,” he said.