By Jack Heverin
A fired up Frankston Dolphins outfit were unable to come away with a victory in their match against Port Melbourne at Frankston Park on Sunday.
Looking to restore some respect after a horrible first half of the season, the Dolphins took it up to their highly fancied opposition, though it was Port’s class that shone through as the game wore on, coming away with a well-earned 19 point victory.
After a hard fought first quarter, where both sides really tried to test each other out early, the Dolphins settled best in the second term and kicked four goals while keeping Port to just one major.
Despite taking a 30 point lead into the main break, Frankston would have known that their opposition would come out with all guns blazing in the third term, and that they did.
Port was simply electric and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in a dynamic quarter of football. The Borough had 15 scoring shots for the quarter, and truth be told, could have kicked more than the eight goals for the term that they did had they have used the ball better when entering their forward 50.
Left to scratch their heads after barely touching the ball for 30 minutes, the Dolphins battled hard in the final term to try and restore some order to the scoreboard. Both sides kicked two goals in the final term as Port slowed the tempo of the game to ensure victory was theirs.
For Port, Jarrod Dalton led the way with three goals, while the dangerous Toby Pinwill slotted two.
Bo Nixon enjoyed the space at Frankston Park and hand plenty of the ball, while Sam Dwyer and Ryan McMahon also played important roles.
For the Dolphins, Justin Berry bobbed up with three goals, while Ben Crows and the very consistent Tory Dickson kicked two goals each.
It was the Dolphins regular contributors that were again among their best players, with Neil Winterton, Michael Hibberd and Shaun Pollard working very hard. Trent Shinners continues to improve in his role as a pinch-hitting ruckman, while Mark Baguley continues to shine in his first year of VFL football.
Next week Port take on Northern Bullants with top four implications involved for both sides, while Frankston will start as outside favourites in their match against Box Hill.
Frankston 3.1 7.5 8.5 10.7 (67)
| Port Melbourne 2.3 2.5 10.12 12.14 (86)
GOALS:Frankston: Berry 3 Crowe 2 Dickson 2 Baguley Winterton Morris
Port Melbourne: Dalton 3 Pinwill 2 Pleming Dwyer Nixon Deluca McMahon Cain Hassett
BEST:Frankston: Winterton Berry Pollard Hibberd Shinners Baguley
Port Melbourne: Nixon McMahon Dwyer Dalton McGrath Pinwill
Last Modified on 03/08/2009 12:02