THE Maroochydore Roos showed they were no longer the minnows of the Pineapple Hotel Cup when they downed Sandgate yesterday by 41 points at Fishermans Road Oval.
In boggy conditions the home side stormed home to boot six unanswered goals in the final quarter to win 10.8 (68) to 3.9 (27).
While the Roos remain in eighth spot with just eight competition points, the result shows they are capable of mixing it some of the competition's mid-level sides.
Maroochydore led at each break, but there was little in it most of the way. The Roos held a one-point lead after the first term, led by three points at the main break and there was just four points in it at three-quarter time.
The young Roos showed, how-ever, they were bigger and stronger than the squad that was regularly monstered last year.
At half-time the contested possession count was even, but Maroochydore had racked up nearly twice as many tackles.
Coach Roger Delaney said the Roos displayed self-belief to finish over the top of the opposition.
"If we could win as much contested ball and continued to tackle more, we thought we could wind them down," he said.
"Our third quarter wasn't great, but we kept a lid on it. That's one of the things we've been trying to do, really shut down the opposition.
"Last quarter we made some changes and rolled the dice a bit.
"Again our tackle count was huge in the last quarter. We wanted to kick goals early and it happened.
"As soon as we did that, the confidence just grew. It was fantastic."
Jarrod Raun was best on ground and Jarrod Gale a standout in the contested possessions.
Maroochydore fielded three players under 18, a dozen more under 21 and just three over 25.
Delaney said the side still had some way to go but was improving at a steady rate.
"We are on an upward curve," he said. "We are two or three players away from being full strength. We have not played any game with a full side. I'm not talking one or two out, either.
"Sometimes I read in the paper someone says we've got one out or two out. We've had five or six out every week.
"We're near full strength and our younger players are getting fitter and stronger and getting used to it.
"We also played top five sides in the first five rounds. It's good to be able to play some sides in the bottom half - where we are and deserve to be at the moment. But last year we might not have beaten a team of that size and this year we should beat them."
MAROOCHYDORE 10.8 (68)
Weikhardt 2, Hill 2, McPherson 2, Page, Allman, Raun, Barnes
SANDGATE 3.9 (27)
Nuss, Fuller, Long
Written by Steve Zemek for the Sunshine Coast Daily
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2012/06/03/youthful-roos-show-theyre-on-right-path-sunshine-/
Last Modified on 23/01/2013 16:46
