A great win against the traditional foe
Round 6 summary v Sollies
Port 3.3 4.6 7.9 14.15 (99)
Sollies 0.5 2.5 2.7 3.8 (26)
Best – Port: J. Penny, A. Waters, J. Neary, G. Phillips, J. Corrieri. Sollies -T. Price, R. Hayes, D. Eldridge, G. Cooke, A. Malchow. Goals: Port – M. Gale 4, J. Sykes 3, G. Phillips 3, Z. Hutchinson , C. Carey , M. Burford , K. Johanson. Best Players: J. Penny, A. Waters, J. Neary, G. Phillips. Sollies – L. Bearman , B. Goodridge , R. Hayes
As we enter the break I couldn’t really have hoped for more than where we are; 5&1 with a game and % to second spot. We have come a fair way from where we started but we are 6 weeks into a 20 week season, plenty of distance still left to travel.
In a slugging first quarter we were let off with Sollies poor kicking and the second quarter was just plain ugly tight footy with our defence continuing their recent quality only allowing 2 scores for the qtr. Our intensity lifted and the midfield started to wind up with centre clearances our way 4 zip and also 6 to 3 around the ground with only 5 inside 50’s. We finally busted the game open early in the last and finished off in style giving away only one late goal for the qtr.
Statiscally we were down but probably more to do with a change of statistician than anything else. Griz went to the shop three times in the first half and after Toddy took over in the second what I cant tell you about Boxers isnt worth knowing!! Haha sorry guys J. Overall centre clearances were 15 to 6 – and inside 50’s were comprehensive 51 to 28. We scored at nearly 57% of the times we entered the forward 50 with goals to I50’s at 27.4%.
Positives that came from the game
• Good win, love beating Sollies.
• Last qtr kicked 7-6.
• Great stepping up when needed in the third after being a bit flat in the second.
• There was a danger after playing both last years grand finallists and winning we might let our concentration slip as Centrals may possibly have done on Sat. Good sides are consistent and I think we are becoming honest in our week in week out performances.
• Our defence again. It has slipped under the radar a little but our defence has been outstanding with only 40 goals against us in 6 games (under 7 per game) which is 23 goals less than any other side in the comp. 281 points against vs 448-493 for other 5! This comes from simple defensive tactics.
Points we need to improve on
• Accuracy at goal, again. Too many shots from outside 45. This was our most scoring shots for the year but again poor kicking leaves us at 68-78. From approx 150 scores should aim to have 90-60!
• We were a bit slow out the gates first 10min
• The Zone worked ok again but had 2 gaping holes in it – we must tighten up!
• Blazed away to often instead to contests instead of picking shorter targets to break up the lines.
Looking forward
First 6 down and now a break. Enjoy it! We have another short burst of 3 games West in Pirie, Lions, and South in Augusta so we will focus on them next week with the next post. West is the only side we are yet to defeat…..
Get out to training and continue our improvement