ASPLEY WEBSITE MATCH REPORT
ROUND 3 – REDLAND v ASPLEY – VICTORIA POINT
Coach Russell Evans has identified one bright shining light in the aftermath of a disappointing loss to Redland at Victoria Point on Saturday as the club’s injury toll continues to grow.
On a day when there was little for Hornets fans to be too excited about Evans gave a big tick to the performance of ruckman Dylan Reid.
He said Reid, playing his 46th game for the club, had been “really good” in what he hopes will be a breakout game for the 199cm 21-year-old.
“He had a real go. It was his best game for the club and hopefully now he can produce that sort of performance on a consistent basis,” Evans said.
Otherwise, Evans was “pretty disappointed” by his side’s 14-12 (96) to 22-12 (144) loss to the Bombers in which they were out-scored 8-1 to 3-3 in the second quarter and never seriously threatened thereafter.
“We were nowhere near accountable enough through the middle of the ground. We were lazy and sloppy, and we just didn’t work hard enough,” he said, forecasting changes at the selection table.
“It doesn’t matter what you do down back if the supply coming in is that good. Actually our backline did a pretty fair job given the pressure it was under pretty much all day, and for limited opportunities we didn’t do too badly up forward.”
Indeed, captain Robbie Copeland worked tirelessly down back, while up forward Adam Hughes provided a good target throughout and was rewarded with five goals, and Peter Labi, in his first game for the club, kicked two opportunistic goals.
Evans also singled out James Ives. Playing his first senior game of the season after State U18 commitments, Ives was a solid contributor on the wing and through the midfield.
Matty Payne had a good second half, Matty Davis did a fair defensive job on Redland full forward Josh Pullman after halftime, and speedster James Linton provided some good drive off the wing.
Labi, a former Carlton AFL international scholarship holder originally from Papua New Guinea who was recruited this year from Mt.Gravatt, and Ives, son of former Mayne Grogan Medallist Peter Ives, had come into an injury-depleted Aspley side with Matt Nickerson, who missed much of last year with a broken leg.
They replaced the key trio of Ben Bucovaz, Bryce Carroll and Brendan Colch.
Sadly, there will be further injury reinforcements needed for Saturday’s Graham Road clash with unbeaten ladder leaders Labrador after the club was hit hard by injuries again.
Former Gold Coast Suns triallist Jack Stanley dislocated his shoulder in the first 30 seconds against Redland, while gun midfielder Micah Buchanan did his calf in the first quarter and Nickerson twinged his hamstring in the third quarter.
“Injuries are certainly putting a bit of pressure on our playing stocks but that’s no excuse for a lack of effort,” Evans said.
“Our tackling pressure was very low – we missed a lot of tackles – and they cut us up around the middle of the ground,” he said, refusing to use injury misfortune as an excuse for sub-standard effort.
Match Details
Redland 4-3 12-4 17-6 22-12 (144)
Aspley 2-3 5-6 10-9 14-12 (96)
Aspley Goals: Hughes 4, Labi 2, Toye 2, Payne 2, R Thomson, K Bucovaz, McKee, Manzone.
Aspley Best: Reid, Ives, Payne, Linton, Labi, Copeland.
Last Modified on 10/04/2012 10:50