The TAFL Power returned to representative football on Saturday afternoon when they headed over to Port Macquarie to battle the North Coast. The last time these leagues battled in representative football was in 2010 in Armidale when they TAFL boys were rolled by excess of 100 points. Despite this, the Power went into the clash confident of putting on a good show and determined to take it right up to their neighbours to the east.
From the opening bounce, big Nomad ruckman Omphile Temoso put the Power right on the front foot and as a result, whitin 1 minute the Power were in front on the scoreboard. Perhaps a little shellshocked, North Coast made a few uncharacterisitic mistakes early in the piece and all of a sudden, the Power jumped out to 21 point lead before North had even registered a point. Mike Gould and Jed Ellis-Cluff were a real handful up front and Scott Hardy massive through the middle as the Power took control in the first 15 miuntes. Slowing down the play, North Coast finally got on the board, before a couple more TAFL goals had Tom Granleese's men buzzing at the first quarter change leading by 10 points.
Keen to continue the running game plan, the Power again started the quarter the better of the two sides. However, North Coast were starting to slow down the play and get things back on their own terms during the stanza. North kicked the first of the quarter before the TAFL had the better of the next 10 minutes, but only had 7 behinds to show for their effort, including a couple of easy misses in front of the big sticks. Not needing a second invitation, North Coast finished all over the Power late the quarter and rattled off 5 straight goals to take a 16 point lead into the long change.
Granleese implored his troops to get back into the game at half time, and they responded in kind, kicking the all important first of the third quarter. However, from that point the match became a real arm wrestle with neither side getting on top. Young Sainter Hamish Bird started to show his pace and precision of disposal during the quarter while ZXac Economou held up the defensive end for the Power. Again the Power were watseful in front of goal while the coastal boys were clinical in front of the big sticks and maintained their lead heading into the last change.
Needing to lift, the Power again wasted a couple of early chances in front of goals early in the quarter and the Coast made the most of theirs to push the margin out beyond 40 points. Refusing the yield, the Power kicked the next 3 goals to give themsleves a sniff of a chance with plenty of time remaining. Hayden Chappel was doing his best to single handedly lift the Power over the line but ultimately they fell short with the margin at 30 points at the final siren.
Most observers agreed the Power were probably the better side on the day but were unable to make the most of their chances. It was a massive improvement from the last time the Power took to the field and many players will be keen for revenge when we next make an entry into rep footy.
Mike Gould won the medal for best a field for the TAFL, with Granleese singling out Scott Hardy, Jed Ellis-Cluff, Hayden Chappel, Hamish Bird and Zac Economou for special mention as well.
Last Modified on 24/05/2013 11:14