Werribee Tigers
Goal Kickers: J. Podsiadly 8, L. Brown 3, S. Howard 2, D. Gleeson, J. Young, P. Kenelley, S. McMahon, J. Sheringham, M. Riggio Best Players: J. Podsiadly, S. McMahon, R. Castello, S. Thompson, M. Barlow, P. Kenelley Casey Scorpions
Goal Kickers: M. Rix 2, M. Ferguson, S. Birss, C. Dunne, B. McEvoy, K. Matthews, A. Silvagni, J. Steven Best Players: S. Birss, S. O''Bryan, L. Fisher, J. Wall, M. Rix, J. Taylor
Match Report by Daniel Paproth
A GRAND final appearance is within arm’s reach for the Werribee Tigers, after a 69-point annihilation of the Casey Scorpions at TEAC Oval on Sunday.
Casey controlled the tempo early on, with Shane Birss kicking a goal within the first thirty seconds to send the Scorpion fans into raptures. It was only a late first quarter goal to Podsiadly that put the Tigers ahead at the first change kicking with a 5 goal breeze. .
The beginning of the match looked ominous, with the Scorpions looking comfortable and the Tigers off-target again, with five behinds before Jarrod Young kicked their second goal.
"It was a bit like Groundhog Day at the start, we were up in the coach’s box thinking here we go again, but I thought they really hung in. I thought the turning point was halfway through the second quarter when we really got some ascendancy through the stoppages, we played our style of footy.
"To come in at half time in front, the group really got a lot of positives out of that," said Atkins.
One of the cornerstones of the victory was the assured performance of the defenders, the ‘back six’. Rob Castello continued his recent good form, laying eight tackles. Scott Howard was almost Werribee’s best, getting 28 touches, four clearances and even sneaking two goals. The Tigers had 63 tackles for the afternoon, never relenting in their pressure.
"That’s something that hurt us last week. I thought the midfield and our back six really combined and not one of the Casey players got out of the loop.
"We were able to keep their quality midfielders under thirty touches. Really good defensive, one-on-one accountability got us across the line I think," Atkins said.
They will now face North Ballarat at TEAC Oval at 2:10pm next week, and they will take confidence into the game next week, excited at the prospect of a grand final birth. But as for now it’s one week at a time.
"They’ll be fresh, they beat us up there, and I think they’re a really good football side. We’ll prepare ourselves as best we can to win a preliminary final," said Atkins.
Podsiadly was simply sensational, having twelve shots at goal and dominating his Casey opponents. Coach Simon Atkins impressed with his captain’s performance, and that of Leigh Brown.
"To have the input from ‘Podsy’ to kick eight and from ‘Browny’ to kick three, last week we didn’t get anything. I spoke to them through the week about it and they really took the ownership upon themselves to answer for that," he said.
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