“A Bad Loss” from ‘The Outer Eye’
Saturday’s game was a bad loss. Pure and simple. No gilding the lily and saying it was bad luck or we got the rough end of the pineapple from the umpires, it was just a bad loss. In the EFL, when you play at home, you have to win the vast majority. When you’re playing a side recently promoted from 2nd Division, albeit a mightily competitive one in Doncaster with enough AFL quality to make them a threat, there are few excuses. When you then proceed to hold them goalless for the first 50 minutes of the game, there are ZERO excuses. In the following forty minutes of hapless non-effort from late in the 2nd quarter right through the 3rd, we went from 4 goals up to 5 goals down as Doncaster kicked 8.6 to ZIP. The game was turned on its head as during the 3rd quarter we turned out some of the least competitive football by a Norwood football side in recent history. And despite a rally in the last quarter where just about everything had to go right in order for us to steal the game – and in the end it would have been a steal – not quite everything did go right and the class of ex AFL star Tarkyn Lockyer with 30 seconds of electric football and two goals was enough to seal our fate.
There should be some serious individual soul-searching come out of this game as so many of our players lowered their colours on the day, not necessarily to more skilled, bigger, stronger opposition, but to more committed, harder running opponents, willing to run to make options for each other. Far too often, when in possession under pressure, we found ourselves handballing to stationary teammates, immediately beset upon, with our spread, overlap and line-breaking running almost non-existent. Leigh Williams shone like a beacon up forward, returning 5 goals in a single handed power forward display attempting to get us back in the game, but even that beacon flickered badly when in that horror 3rd quarter, he was guilty of a misdemeanour, finding himself yellow-carded for an ill-disciplined act of frustration. This just about summed up our day. The final score on this dismal day was 10.10.70 – 11.13.79. Good players were once again hard to find, but Jordan Ceppi was a definite highlight across half-back and through the middle, perhaps the one player constantly running and making options. Leroys 5 goals set him apart as the best forward on the day, and the skipper John Holmes fought hard against the tide. Stuey Hill, starting in the unusual role of ruck, provided an option around the ground but still did his best work when returned to CHB. But there were far too few contributors – again, to make us ultimately successful. It doesnt get any easier next week either, a trip to Noble Park, a notoriously tough place to win. In other games the development team had a good win and the colts lost a heartstopper by a single point.
Cmon Wooders, LIFT!!!!
Last Modified on 18/04/2016 12:10