The Northern Bullants stuck it out against a resurgent Casey Scorpions outfit at Preston City Oval to remain victorious and hold on to fourth spot on the VFL ladder as Brittany Shanahan reports.
The rain held out for most of the day but the slippery conditions still plagued both side’s accuracy in front of goal as they engaged in a scrappy affair.
The Bullants set the scene early restricting the Scorpions to a goalless quarter and then led the entire afternoon. The Bullants were challenged in the final quarter when Brendan Fevola nailed a goal from the boundary line but they responded accordingly.
Carlton will be pleased with Zach Tuohy’s performance streaming off the backline, Mclean’s work on ball and Hampson’s two-goal contribution and ruck work.
Nick Meese continues to impress following his return to the club at the beginning of the season snaring a goal and assisted Hampson in the ruck.
In a blow for the Scorpions, big men Jake Spencer and Jack Fitzpatrick went down in the second term and didn’t return to the field. The Scorpions were effectively down two men yet continued to fight on.
The Bullants ran away with a nine-point win in Scorpions coach Brad Gotch’s 250th game. Despite the loss Gotch was delighted with his player’s efforts while being two men down on the bench.
“I couldn’t have been more proud about the way they went about it because we were down three technically,” Gotch said.
“There is the one thing you can never have enough of is effort and being competitive and give it your all and the boys certainly did that. “
Gotch believes there are a number of things the side will work on before they take on the Bombers next week and they will be getting back to basics.
“Our goal kicking really hurt us and our field kicking cost us especially early. We need to improve.”
“We have to adapt to the game especially in the wet conditions. I thought we tried to play dry weather footy too which didn’t help us. “
Former AFL goal kicking sensation Brendan Fevola got his hands on a fair bit of the footy but wasn’t able to consistently convert which frustrated Gotch.
“He still has a bit of work to do on his fitness. He missed some easy set shots at goal, which was disappointing. “
“We are getting a bit of everything but he is trying, working hard and he is only going to get better as he goes along.”
On the other hand, Gotch was very impressed with young gun Tim Moore’s effort rotating through the Bullants big men.
“Tim Moore probably played the best game I had seen him play for us. We threw him onto Arrowsmith, Henderson; he was on the big guys Hampson and Meese. “
“We couldn’t afford not to have him out there,” Gotch concluded.
In the injury stakes, Gotch is shattered he will miss Fitzpatrick and Spencer next week against the Bombers but on the upside they have the bye the following week.
This week Casey Scorpions will host the Bendigo Bombers and the Northern Bullants will travel to Frankston on Saturday afternoon.
Match summary
Northern Bullants 3.2 5.7 5.10 8.13 (61)
Casey Scorpions 1.3 3.5 5.8 7.10 (52)
Last Modified on 09/05/2011 12:27