It was a bloodbath in the first quarter and it only got worse for the Cairns City Lions as Saints made the most of their chance to get their premiership defence back on track. After a huge loss to Manunda before a two-week spell, Saints were itching to get back in the winner’s circle and they didn’t muck around against the winless Cairns City, running out 29.19 (193) to 4.0 (24) victors.
The Lions did not register a point after half-time, whereas Saints booted 16 majors of their own in the last two quarters. The clash also marked the return of Matt Walsh from injury and he quickly reminded everyone of his talent in front of goal, collecting 13 of his own.
He did not get much of a chance to work with new recruit Reece Poyner after injury granted him an early reprieve from the action. When the pair are both fit and firing it is likely Poyner will slot in at centre half forward behind Walsh in a devastating attacking formation.
But Walsh was still given plenty of good service without Poyner’s presence, made possible by some hard running and plenty of pressure being applied by the Saints’ midfield. Player-coach James Coatsworth said his side had enjoyed some time away from the park after their massive loss to Manunda and would benefit mentally from the big win.
"I think we needed that rest to be honest, it was good timing," he said. "We’re very pleased with how we went about this one though, winning by a big margin doesn’t do the morale any harm."
He said their increased attention on the opposition ball carrier was something they had been working on since the loss to Manunda.
"We had three pretty good weeks on the training paddock working hard on that," he said. "If we put more pressure on the ball carrier we knew we could do the talking on the scoreboard."
As always Coatsworth was busy himself, picking up three goals among a long list of goal kickers. He said Jeremy Dixon had one of his better games, while Julian Porter was another who stepped up.
Read more at http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2011/06/20/170055_local-sport-news.html
Courtesy of The Cairns Post.
Last Modified on 29/09/2011 16:11