Port Melbourne stretched its consecutive winning streak to 23 with a 59-point demolition of the Werribee Tigers at North Port Oval last Saturday as Ben Carbonaro reports.
Werribee were looking to continue its good start to the new season after a stunning second half comeback against North Ballarat while Port Melbourne opened their account with a win over fellow stand alone club Frankston.
An early goal from Ben Warren got things going for the Tigers, but there was to be little joy for the rest of the term as they could only manage one more goal for the quarter. Port Melbourne slammed on nine goals in a row for the quarter to dominate the game, celebrating their flag unfurling with a 48 point lead at quarter time.
The chief destroyers were Dean Galea and Adrian Bonaddio who went goal for goal in a Port forward line battle, kicking four goals each to open the game.
It got worse for Werribee during the second quarter as they struggled to move the football forward. Whilst Werribee kicked two early goals to reduce the margin back to 41 points, Port again finished the quarter the stronger, kicking four unanswered goals to lead the Tigers by 64 points at the main break.
The third quarter was evenly matched as the Borough kicked six goals to Werribee’s five. Ball handling and hitting targets improved significantly for the Tigers, but despite the positives it was too late. Port’s on ball brigade of Sam Dwyer, John Baird and Shane Valenti started where they left of last year, with Port Melbourne leading by 72 points at final break.
A five goal to two final quarter by the Tigers was a marked improvement, but the sting had well and truly gone out of the game, with Port going on to record their 23rd consecutive win.
This was by far the best individual quarter performance, but it was too late as Werribee let Port run over the top of them early in the game.
After the departure of eight premiership players in the off season, Port coach Gary Ayres was pleased with his sides first home ground performance.
“I thought we were dynamic in the middle, the last ten minutes of the first quarter we opened them up pretty badly .... our efficiency was really what I was pleased with and when you score nearly 10 goals in a quarter it obviously says it is pretty powerful footy,” Ayres said.
“The guys were up for the contest, and we spoke about it was the unfurling of the flag, we spoke about it was the final recognition of a wonderful season, and we spoke about the young players needing to invest in the long term goal, and that was that they want to hopefully be part of something that those older guys experienced last year.”
Tigers coach Scott West was disappointed with his team’s lack of application and enthusiasm for the first three quarters.
“The lack of enthusiasm was evident and that can happen when you are down (by so much), but you need to be consistent in everything you did,” he said.
“You can’t drop off two or three per cent in this game because the opposition will grab a hold of you.
“Anytime you make changes it disrupts (the success) you had the week before but, that’s no excuse.”
Despite the loss, West made mention of North Melbourne’s Ben McKinley and Travis Tuck for their efforts in a losing side.
“I thought McKinley was right up there for us and Tucky, I think he just gives you heart and soul week in, week out.”
Power forward Adrian Bonaddio kicked five goals for the Borough and captain John Baird was best on ground with 34 disposals.
Warren kicked five goals for the Tigers in another strong performance by the North Melbourne listed forward and it was enough to see him named best on ground for Werribee.
Werribee play their first home game for 2012 when they host the Box Hill Hawks under lights on Saturday night, whilst Port Melbourne head to Bendigo on Saturday afternoon.
Last Modified on 02/04/2012 14:19