THE
bubble burst for previously unbeaten Sandgate when they lost to
Maroochy-Northshore at Fisherman’s Road on Saturday.
Maroochy took the points in what Roos coach Peter Somerville
described as ‘a cracker of a game’ by 16.5 (101) to 12.10 (82), bring to
an end Sandgate’s eight-match winning streak.
Yet the Hawks left the Sunshine Coast venue far from despondent.
Rather they took a lot out of the loss after leading by two points at
three-quarter time.
It was a case of circumstances after that because Sandgate did not
have a bench after half-time and the effort eventually caught up with
them.
After losing rover Ben Drew on Friday night, the Hawks finished
with Mick Pettitt (ankle), Chris Pettit (concussion), Matt Nuss
(shoulder), Tim Beaven (shoulder) and Sean Cornish (hamstring) in the
sick bay.
All this coming after they elected not to risk ruckman Brendan
Forbes.
“Forbes and Drew are probably two of our most important players,”
said Sandgate player-coach Ben Long. “But we still thought we could get
the job done.
“Sure, we’re disappointed that we lost and the streak is over, but
I was still really proud of the boys they way they tried.”
It was noticeable that three of Maroochy’s best players included
gun midfielders David Hulsman, Ben Mathews and Ryan White.
When the game was there for the taking, this trio rose to the
occasion and definitely provided the difference between the sides.
“It is not often you get them firing together on the one day,”
noted Somerville.
“It’s probably fair to say that,” said Long when asked if this was
the case. “They probably outran us in the end.”
Somerville was impressed with the win, saying the Roos are now
just starting to hit their straps after a sluggish start to the new
season.
“We’re starting to find the form we probably need to play to play
in the finals,” he said, although he acknowledged Sandgate more than
matched up with his side in terms of statistics.
“Sandgate had five more inside-50s than us but they kicked 10
behinds, so they had the opportunities.
“All the other stats were pretty even but we kicked straighter. It
was one of those things, we kicked straight, they didn’t.”
The match was highlighted by events at opposite ends of the ground
where James Page (Maroochy) and Josh Walker (Sandgate) lit up.
Page finished with seven goals, one in front of Walker. The pair
now sit first and second on the goalkicking list with 37 and 31 majors
respectively.
Sandgate named Walker as their best, just ahead of wingman and
on-baller Steven Webster, in-form defender Rowan Moody and Trent Fuller.
Last Modified on 31/05/2010 10:18
