The senior men’s side took on an inform Central Districts outfit at the Ponderosa on Saturday afternoon. It was a challenge we were looking forward to, given the recent success Centrals had against North Adelaide and the SANFL Crows.
We started slowly, again beaten around the contest and we lost territory off the back of it. From there we found it difficult to move and control the ball from our defensive half. This is an area we will review and go to work on this week.
The second quarter we tidied things up around stoppage and started playing more front-half football. This allowed us to structure up defensively behind the ball and gave ourselves more of a chance to impact the scoreboard. To Centrals credit they were able to absorb our momentum and counteract it, kicking 2 goals to our 1.
It wasn’t until the final quarter that we played with the energy and intent required to succeed at this level. The boys were brave which put ourselves in a position to win the game, unfortunately though the damage had been done early and we fell by 11 points.
Josh Ryan was again superb down back. Hamish Ellem played very well in a number of roles in his return game. Isaac Johnson and Lucas Meline worked tirelessly for us up and down the wings and Tom Morrish continued his great form.
The focus for our group now is closing the gap between our best and our worst each game. The talent is there, but we need to embrace the fight for longer periods and understand the game won’t be played on our terms for the entirety, and that’s okay. Absorb opposition pressure and go again.
Thank you to our loyal fans for their support on the weekend, it is greatly appreciated.
Goal Kickers: J.Beech, T.Morrish (2), H.Ellem, C.Kennedy, M.Mattingly (1)
Best Players: Josh Ryan, Hamish Ellem, Tom Morrish