Frankston put in a powerful performance to beat Port Melbourne on Sunday by six points at Frankston Oval. The defence of the Dolphins was their strength in the end, with tight 2-on-1 defending towards the end of the game being the deciding factor as Philippe Perez reports.
The match did not start off well for the Dolphins however, with Port Melbourne playing a fast and free game to score four goals to lead by twenty at the first break.
Joshua Scipione was impressive for the Borough in that quarter, kicking three of those goals while Julian Rowe slotted one for himself as well. Frankston struggled against the breeze with wayward kicking and were slow with their turnarounds.
However, fans would be forgiven if the teams swapped guernseys at the break, as it was the Dolphins who were finding the opening spaces in the second quarter. The quick play allowed them to run Port around in circles. Both Sam Lloyd - who leapt well and took some strong marks throughout the game - and Ziggie Alwin in particular seemed hungrier for the ball whenever they came close to it in that quarter and spurred the rest of the Dolphins to push hard for the ball.
The second term saw the Dolphins score at will slotting through seven goals to Port Melbourne’s one, and it seemed they were going to go on with it in the third.
Kicking off the second half, Scipione continued to be Port melbourne’s main target to goal kicking his fourth, while Chris Cain set in motion a Borough comeback booting a long bomb to reduce the deficit to 25 points by three-quarter time.
With Port Melbourne closing in, the last quarter became a half hour of dramatic, intense defence and attack.
The powerful marking of Port Melbourne’s Dean Galea made the difference in the final term. Frankston’s Jarrod Irving proved his worth to the team by being able to contain Galea for most of the match. A short period within the last quarter was the only time where Galea was able to get loose to put two through the posts.
Whilst Port Melbourne fought back, Frankston were able to hold on to a six-point win.
Shane Hockey was best on ground for the Dolphins, winning plenty of contested ball on his way 31 possessions for the game.
Frankston coach Simon Goosey can look forward to a week of positive attitude coming off this win ahead of their match against Collingwood next weekend, as his side try to win two in a row for the first time since 2008.
Last Modified on 17/04/2013 15:42