Good to get a win in on past players night
Port 3.1 6.4 9.5 12.8 80
Sollies 2.1 3.2 5.3 5.4 34
Best Port C. Brooke, J. Neary, M. Burford, K. Johanson, C. Tobin Sollies J. Williams, D. Eldridge, S. Swayne, C. Mudge, J. Davies Goals Port M. Gale 3, C. Smith 3, C. Brooke , J. Watson , C. Carey , N. Magor , J. Neary , A. Waters Sollies: B. Fitzgerald 2, D. Hastings , B. Goodridge , M. Turner
Back in the winners circle this week with a tradesman like win versus the old foe in Sollies. The Sollies team was close to full strength and a much improved on paper look than we had faced before.
Much had been said about Sollies inability to kick straight despite having much of the ball and also they had to win to keep their dimming finals chances alive. We knew they would come out with vigour.
We started into a strong breeze and despite a goal to Cats in the first minute the qtr was won by our selves. The game was even with inside 50’s at 11 to 10 our way but it was clear we were up for the contest with 24 tackles for the qtr including 6 to Brooke shading medallist Price.
From there however we took over control of the ball with the last 3 qtrs producing 9.7 to 3.3. The inside 50’s after qtr time were 41 to 12 and the workrate and 1%ers remained good with a final tally of 84 tackles 48 shepherds and 28 smother/spoils.
There were some aspects of our forward line movement which let us down and again had our conversion at below 25% instead of the 30% that would have bought us the 16 goals we set ourselves for.
The backline was again outstanding and now we have let through 200 points less than any other team in the league and only twice conceded more than 10 goals. Good job.
Positives that came from the game
• We maintained the pressure after half time this week.
• Backlines holding a side to 5 goals
• Winning despite a fair few players not being at their best/cleanest with a dose of the flu running about. Improvement is still available.
• Brooke tagging out Price very well- 16 tackles!
• 10 players behing Cody with double figure 1 %ers.
• Interchanges worked more smoothly
• Overall clearances Centre 13/6 and around ground 36/18 – good job.
• Used the boundary line as a defensive option this week to set up again- with those clearances why not!
• Kept our cool when they started to lose focus in the last
Points we need to improve on
• To score more from our entries- we are 3rd on points for!
• Too cute and precise with our short passing- too many ended up in contested balls or slightly low or behind resulting in turnovers
• We need to enter the 50 deeper instead of passing to 45m out to put more panic and pressure on their full backline.
• We crowded the forward lines a little lede at angles that took our crumbers out of position and made it hard to get those off hands goals.
• Free kicks – 13 to 19 against
Looking forward
West- Had two great games against them so far this year. Lost up there by 12 then won here by 11. They pushed Central again on Sat and have only lost to them by 6pts, 9pts and beaten them.
They are a free running high scoring team that needs close checking. They have a good mix of talls and smalls and when you take the foot off against them they will score as they attack relentlessly.
As an aside
Well done Saturday night boys- there were a few more speeches than normal and I appreciate the respect that was shown. It was an important event and highlights the emphasis the club places on our history and the esteem we hold those who set our foundations. This should galvanise our desire to join this group and be remembered always for our efforts over this the SGL’s 50th year. Its up to us now.