The Cats, boosted by the appearances of rising star talents Coby James and Kydan Atkinson, were too strong for Tatura and ran out 12.20 (92) to 2.7 (19) winners in windy conditions at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve.
The home side dominated time in forward half and tallied up the inside-50s count, however they were unable to maximise on the scoreboard until the final term.
A six-goal fourth quarter saw Mooroopna register a comfortable 73-point win to remain on top of the ladder.
Ruckman Liam Betson was named best-on for the hosts, while onballers Atkinson (one goal), Ben Hicks (one), Matt Deane and youngster Jed Woods provided class support.
The Bulldogs, who have been rocked by injuries and player unavailability, did their best to make life tough for Mooroopna.
Chris Ryan continued his strong season, as did silky movers Billy Cooper and James Bennett (two goals).
Mooroopna coach John Lamont said he was pleased with his side’s ability to maintain possession and have eight different goal kickers — while he praised the spirit shown by Tatura.
“I thought we had a good spread of goal kickers and found different avenues to goal which was good to see,” he said.
“Our consistency to gather the ball and work hard around the contests was pleasing as well. We had majority of the ball in our forward half but we only kicked 2.7 in that first half.
“Part of that was pressure from Tatura. I’ve got to give credit to them, they really fought it out to the end. I would have liked to have scored more but we were able to break the game open a bit but that only came late in the game.”
The round five win was memorable for one junior Cat.
James, who has been a mainstay for the Murray Bushrangers this season, made his senior debut for Mooroopna.
James topped off his senior outing with a goal to his name.
“Coby is another who has come through the junior program. It was great to see club legend Bill Wong present him with his senior jumper,” Lamont said.
“We started him in the middle where he won his own ball and then we threw him down in defence where he’s played for the Bushies.
“He had one outstanding passage of play where he ran back with the flight of the ball into the pack and I raised it at three-quarter time to the group and said ‘if the youngest player who’s on debut can put their body on the line, there’s no excuses for the rest of you’.”
Lamont said the appearance of James and Atkinson was one to savour for the Cats’ faithful.
“Kydan had a good influence on the game and made an impact through the midfield,” the Mooroopna coach said.
“It’s a real positive for the club to have them (James and Atkinson) play. We support the Bushies and we want them to do well (at the Bushies), but we welcome them with open arms when they return. It was a great day from a club’s perspective.”
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