Mooroopna toughs it out to edge a plucky Tatura side for Rodney Cup rights in the Goulburn Valley League

At times, did it threaten to grind to a halt altogether? Yes.

But in the 15.13 (103) to 13.5 (83) Cats’ victory, small moments of stardust were sprinkled throughout, making it worthwhile for the fans braving the cold for the Rodney Cup/Gary Cooper Medal/Indigenous Round triple treat.

Bottom-ranked Tatura showed mountains of gumption in the match at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve, which, on paper, shouldn’t have been as close as it was.

When Bulldogs pup Riley Morris needled a stunning goal from the pocket while on the run midway through the final quarter, it seemed Tatura could pull off the heist.

But it wasn’t to be — Daniel Johnston made sure of that.

Mooroopna’s bulldozing key forward kicked a pair of late majors to add to his catalogue of six for the day, all but ensuring the Cats another four points, however ugly it was.

“It’s not going to go down as a classic; it’s a grinding sort of win,” Lamont said.

“I’m a bit disappointed with the standard of play, I would’ve liked a better game for people to come and watch but we just did enough, really.

“We’ve got one defender left from round two and three; ‘Hicksy’ (Ben Hicks) is the only bloke. We’ve got the L plates and the P plates back there, so that’s a factor.

“In terms of stability and your backup, that’s a great thing. It’s a grinding win, great learning and another debutant today.”

Mackenzie Calleja stepped up for his first senior game in the hoops, while on the opposite front, Tatura veteran Linc Wellington returned for his second senior outing of the season after coming out of retirement.

The hosts drew first blood, but Tatura returned fire through Jacob Simpson and Curt Ryan, though a volley of late goals had Mooroopna up by 14 points at quarter-time.

First, Logan Campbell sliced one through before collecting himself on the goalpost before Angus Hanrahan produced an unbelievable hook with his back to the sticks, then Bryce Rutherford kicked truly after the siren to make it three in as many minutes.

In the second term, Mooroopna’s increasing encroachment on Tatura’s defensive 50 started to show.

Continuous waves of Cats pressure smashed at the visitor’s gates, but gun Tatura on-baller Mitch Elliott provided some respite as his low kick parted a white and blue sea and arrowed through.

Mitch Heywood chimed in with two late efforts to keep within reach of the Cats, but in the third quarter, Tatura’s worrying trend of conceding goals directly after scoring remained.

Mooroopna had a four-goal buffer to play with as the last term loomed.

However, the game tightened as Johnston was given a 15-minute spell on the pine after a loose tackle, allowing Tatura back into the game.

Quinn delivered a lovely goal on the spin from far out before Morris brought the away crowd to its feet with his effort which would’ve needed a protractor to calculate the angle from which the ball left his boot.

Hanrahan eased some pressure not long after, but Quinn went again with an axe from 50.

The temperature was dropping and Tatura needed something hot.

Instead, Johnston returned from his lag with two ice-cold conversions to kill the game, meaning Liam Scopelliti’s late goal was reduced to a collector’s item for the travelling fans.

Lamont spoke about the unneeded pressure his side had invited onto itself, leaving his address to fly out the window once Mooroopna went a man down.

“The message at three-quarter time was let’s try and shut the opposition out and then lift the standard of our own play,” he said.

“But then at the four minute mark you’ve only got 17, so those sort of things go out the door a little bit.

“There was some good aspects of our play, at times our ball movement was good but too often we just made an error and brought the opposition into the game.”

Rutherford was bestowed the Gary Cooper Medal for his fine work all day, while Lamont was pleased by the games of Hicks, Johnston and the Cats’ experienced brigade.

For Tatura, Quinn was the main threat with four majors while big man Jacob Simpson stood out yet again.