Tigers suffer heavy Mansfield defeat

Spectators at Moon Oval seemed set for a cracker as Rochy and Mansfield traded blows in the first quarter, all five goals coming towards the end of the term as the Eagles held a slender lead at the first interval.

But after an arm-wrestle in the opening period Mansfield completely broke the game open towards the end of the second.

The Eagles kicked a major midway through the quarter before an onslaught in the final 10 minutes, Mansfield adding another seven without reply to balloon the margin to 62 at the main break, leading 11.12 (78) to 2.4 (16).

Max Mahoney made it 11 straight goals for the Eagles towards the end of the third quarter, but Rochy improved, kicking the next three majors to win the period and cut the deficit.

Perhaps spurred on by letting go of the rope, Mansfield put its foot down to ensure there would be no nerves in the final term, kicking six goals without reply to send out a bit of a statement across the league with a second straight win by 80 or more points.

Overall it finished up 19.20 (134) to 5.12 (42) in a match where both sides created many scoring shots, but failed to execute consistently.

For Rochester, two defeats to start the season puts it on the back foot in a pursuit to go one better than it did in 2025 and the Tigers’ schedule does not get any easier in round three, with Echuca visiting Moon Oval on Saturday night.