Match Report
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This week we travelled to Alphington to play Parkside for the first and – presumably – the last time this season. The strange draw which has us play only 1/3 of our games at home, also has us play some teams 3 times but other only once. Having not seen Parkside in action, they were an unknown quantity but looking more closely at their stats they had only won one game since moving up from Section 4 after round 4. So, it was with some expectations that we started the game on a sunny and still Sunday afternoon. That expectation quickly turned to concern when Parkside came out firing from the first bounce. The opposition looked faster, more hungry and they dominated the attacking play, having probably about 60-70% of the possession and definitely the majority of entries into the arc. On the other hand, we struggled to move the ball effectively and on the few occasions that we managed to get the ball forward, it was quickly turned around and back it came. It was only a superb effort by the backmen, especially Gus McKinnon on return from a long injury break, that that stopped Parkside from notching up a large score in the quarter. In fact, despite their dominance, they only managed to kick 1.2 for the quarter with the first score not coming until the 14 minute mark. Glen Iris, on the other hand, failed to score at all and there was a lot of discussion at the first break amongst the parents about where exactly Parkside were on the ladder.
Q1: Parkside 1.2 (8) – Glen Iris 0.0 (0)
A free kick from the first bounce of Q2 saw Parkside with a shot on gaol within 30 seconds, which they converted. Things were not looking good. Koaches Kon & Leon had made a few structural changes at quarter time. A couple of significant moves were Sam Hooper, who had been playing up forward, was moved down back. And Ned Irving was moved forward having played down back in Q1. This did two things. Sam went on to play a superb role in defence for the rest of the match, and then later in Q2 Ned cut loose up forward. In addition, the midfielders were being rotated frequently to keep them fresh. So, after a about 4 or 5 minutes, the possession balance started to change and we started to drive the ball forward with better linking play and some good running from the usual candidates in the likes of Charlie Potter, Freddie, Max and Bax. Max was dancing through the opposition as usual and Bax just runs strongly. The defence was still holding its own with the likes of Ofek and Will Nicholls helping Gus McKinnon drive out of the backline, and Hoops starting to show why he is so hard to beat down back.
Finally, after 8 minutes a great pass to Charlie Bryan from Ned Irving resulted in our first goal. This was quickly followed by our second from Freddie after some good play by Gus Emmett. Our running game had started to click and suddenly the team’s confidence grew with the quick succession goals. Another couple of goals, both by Ned Irving, had us 5 points up at half time with a scoreline of 4.2 (26) to 3.3 (21).
After half time we knew the match was there to be put away. And that is exactly what the boys went on to do. Will Nicholls went forward and immediately had an impact, taking a couple of good grabs and converting for 2 goals. Charlie Coleman and Bax chipped in with a goal each and our defence kept repelling most opposition attacks, limiting their scoring to a solitary 1.1 for the quarter, while we managed 4 straight goals. For what seemed to be the first time this season, we were accurate in front of goal.
With a 22 point lead going into the last, the job was not done, but things certainly looked better than they had at quarter time. The final quarter was tight, with neither side making any in roads. A couple of opportunities went begging when Ryan brought the ball to the ground in the square but a snap by Bax missed and then a mark by Ryan about 35m out saw his kick drift wide for another point. It wasn’t until the 15th minute that the first goal was kicked for the quarter when Freddie drifted across to take a mark and kick a long goal. This was followed 2 minutes later when Gus McKinnon was rewarded for what was a BOG performance driving attacks out of the backline. Gus’ huge kicking capacity results in him notching up our 10 and final goal for the match.
A solid win in the end after a shaky start, keeping us a clear 2nd on the ladder and in with a real chance of paying finals in a few weeks’ time. In the end, our run out of the backline and our link and switching of play took its toll on Parkside who struggled to score after half time.
Final score: Glen Iris 10.4 (64) def Parkside 4.5 (29).
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