Bombers march on after taking heat from determined Wanderers

TIWI will go into the 2019-20 NTFL finals with a 13-point win behind them after surviving a shootout with a spirited, young Wanderers outfit who had nothing to lose.

The Bombers started strongly, with Harley Puruntatmeri running 60m to boot the opening goal of the match, but they did not have it all their own way.

A quick return from Muk Muk Robert Howard put Wanderers back in the contest, beginning a back-and-forth goalfest which would define the next three quarters.

Young Eagles Beau O’Connell and Joel Jeffrey ran and kicked well all game to again keep their side in the fight, proving they will be ones to watch for years to come.

Tiwi captain Patrick Heenan knew the early exchanges would be difficult for his Bombers as both sides favoured a quick running game.

“We made it a bit hard for ourselves to begin with,” Heenan told the Sunday Territorian.

“Going into the game we sort of knew we couldn’t give them a lot of space because they play a similar style of game to us and like to run a lot as well.

“We just had to fix up a few things such as running back more and taking our opportunities in front of goal.

“We know we have to turn up if we want to win finals because the top sides will punish us for slow starts.”

Tiwi managed to pull away in the fourth quarter, with Gerrad Cunningham taking advantage of good support to notch his last two of the match.

Wanderers fought back late, putting everything on the line for their final outing of the season, but late goals from Mark White and Ronald Fejo were not enough to claw back the scoreline.