The Bomaderry Bowling Club Shoalhaven Tigers have gotten off to a red-hot start to begin the Waratah League season.
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However, last Saturday's match against the Springwood Scorchers was their first real test of the year.
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The later than usual 7:00pm game started out reasonably slow for both sides as they got a feel for one another as opponents.
However, Springwood was the first to kick it into another gear, and the Tigers found themselves down as much as 16 points.
Tigers Head Coach Ben Bagoly said it the first real adversity the team has had to face.
"We were getting good shots and the shots we wanted but they just weren't falling."
He said there was no excuse, but sometimes that just happens, no one's perfect and event the best shooters sometimes miss shots they should make.
"They were a physical team and a lot better than last year, and coming off a week where we didn't train, i think we really felt that," he said.
The Tigers started to find a bit of a flow as they rounded the end of the third quarter and sensing a possible momentum shift Bagoly called a timeout.
"I got the boys together after making a small run to end the third and just encouraged them to be a bit more aggressive out there," Bagoly said.
"The moment our defence started to come through, a lot of our problems on offense started to fix themselves," he said.
The defensive intensity ramped up for the Tigers which directly fed into the teams performance on the offensive end as they slowly wiped away Springwood's lead as they saw their flow as a team come alive in the fourth quarter.
"The defensive effort of the guys was fantastic, they were really on their toes and playing extremely hard," Bagoly said.
Down two and with the ball in the Scorchers hands it looked like it may be too little too late for the Tigers but team captain Bruce Ozolins had other ideas.
Ozolins put himself in the right position and picked off a pass to take it the other way for a scrambled possession that ended in an Aaron Puljic three pointer, giving the Tigers their first lead since early in the game.
"For Aaron it was one of those games that he wasn't shooting great, but shooters shooters and he made it when it counted most," Bagoly said.
The team didn't take their foot of the gas either, playing lockdown defense on Springwood's last possession, forcing a tough shot that didn't go in.
"It was one of those games where you take the win, it was ugly but it's still a win."
"We dug ourselves a hole but we showed resilience as a team to dig ourselves out of it, I think it'll be a great learning experience for the team."
Bagoly praised Bruce Ozolins for his leadership and strong play, scoring 25 points on his own, one of only three Tigers players to score double figures.
"He's the captain and he's just one of those guys who leads from the front and does everything big and little that we need him to do."
He also shouted out veteran Jake Wilson, who scored nine points but overall really helped settle the team down and keep them level headed during the game.
"His leadership was absolutely awesome, I only get a certain amount of stops each game to be able to talk to the players, so to have those two guys (Ozolins and Wilson) out there is just a great luxury," he said.
Bagoly said the team just can't wait to get back on their home ground and play in front of their friends and family.
"We've got Wagga Wagga coming down and the boys are just beyond excited to get back on the home floor. I can't wait."
The Bomaderry Bowling Club Shoalhaven Tigers currently sit in first place at 3-0 with the best for and against margin in the league.
Will the Tigers roar to a championship win this year? Only time will tell.