This Sunday will see the Frankston Dolphins attempt to fight their way from the bottom of the ladder when they battle the Box Hill Hawks at Frankston Oval.
The two sides met in Round 7, which saw the Hawks run away with a 36 point victory after inaccuracy hampered the Dolphins. Frankston Coach, Simon Goosey has taken a lot from the encounter and believes that success is theirs if they are consistent.
“We felt as a group we didn’t take our opportunities, the effort was there we just didn’t get the reward. So this week it is important that we make the most of our opportunities and apply scoreboard pressure.”
Last weekend brought about a bottom of the ladder clash between the Dolphins and the Northern Blues. Frankston’s rivals fielded a strong team with several injured Carlton players making their return to the VFL. When injuries hit the home camp, they were unable to dowse Northern’s blaze to victory, losing by 47 points.
“We competed well for a half with 3 points the difference and after half time we didn’t get our hands on the ball. Not to make excuses as they played better football but to have four key players go down before half time with injuries in Martin (mid), Irving (FB), Delahunty (wing) and Farato (ruck) certainly put the pressure on.
“A positive was that we competed with them for a half in what was a Carlton line up full of full time footballers,” Goosey said.
This week’s opponents, the Box Hill Hawks faced the Northern Blues themselves only a week before Frankston; defeating a dissimilar Northern line-up by 57 points.
Round 15 painted a very different picture, with the Hawks going down to the Geelong Cats at Simonds Stadium.
Box Hill started the match in fine form but come the second quarter, they let Geelong skip away with an eight goal term. The Hawks shifted the momentum and put forward a courageous fight back, however it was not enough to catch the Cats.
Coach Damian Carroll has a clear indication of what needs to be improved upon from the contest.
“I think our young players fell away from our structure and how we want to move the ball and also defend it. The Cats had twelve inside 50's at one stage for nine goals so they were very efficient but we were poor at defending them.”
Looking back at Frankston and Box Hill’s Round 7 contest, Carroll recalls the competitive nature of the match and will be approaching this weekend’s game ready for a battle.
“It was a tough game and we expect nothing less this weekend. We only kicked ahead in the third quarter after getting some good Inside 50 entries,” Damian Carroll said.
The big question will be whether Frankston can make the most of their fixtured home game.
“I think we probably play our ground better, so hopefully we have an advantage,” Goosey said.
Frankston vs Box Hill Hawks
2:00pm Sunday 15th July
Frankston Oval
Last Modified on 14/07/2012 01:19