Moments into the final quarter, the Northern Bullants looked to build on their momentum from the end of the third as Carlton Colossal Setanta O’hAlipin was running into an open goal.
He kicked it along the ground to an open goal square from 20 meters out; at the last moment the ball bounced the other way registering a point. That simply epitomised the Bullants day, as Brittany Shanahan reports.
It was the upset of the round with the Bullants losing by 57 points after looking to try to secure a top four spot, whilst Box Hill Hawks jump into the eight, clinging onto eighth position just percentage ahead of Sandringham.
Hawk Adam Pattison kicked the first goal of the match as they continued to lead the way with their ability to find space across the ground and press forward in numbers.
It was raining goals for Box Hill and it was in the second quarter that the club had set themselves up to win the match. It was too tough of a task for the Bullants to crawl their way back from the deficit.
Derick Wanganeen starred for Box Hill up forward booting four goals while Cameron Bruce was unscathed in his return from injury chalking up 22 possessions.
Bullants assistant coach, Robbie Maiorana was extremely disappointed with the side’s effort out at Box Hill City Oval and said the bye can’t be blamed.
“I don’t think we could use that as an excuse. The boys did freshen up,” Maiorana said.
“I think it comes down to work rate. We just had a couple of lazy blokes today with some lazy efforts.
“Our pressure around the ball wasn’t where it needed to be and it’s disappointing especially after the way we played against Sandringham to then put out an effort like that today.”
Veteran Brock McLean has certainly staked his claim in the running for the 2011 Liston Trophy with 40 hard-fought possessions particularly around the stoppages.
“Brock McLean was outstanding again for us. He is just having a great year,” he said.
“40 touches, 13 clearances, 9 tackles. He couldn’t have done any more of us and the conditions probably suited him.
“He worked his backside off all day.”
Despite the devastating loss, Carlton can rest assure they have a promising young defender in rookie Joe Dare.
He was pivotal in the backline and raked up 25 possessions, the second highest of anyone in the side behind McLean’s 40 disposals.
Bullants ruckman Nick Meese is likely to return to the line-up next week against Coburg after coming down with the flu. Joel McLellan replaced him and lined-up on Adam Pattison.
“We brought young Joel McLellan up from the reserves and that was a big ask for him. It’s the first game for him for the club at senior level,” Maiorana said.
“We thought he competed well but Pattison had a fair impact on the game up forward. He will learn from that.”
Last Modified on 27/07/2011 16:57