Coburg suffered a 58 point defeat at the hands of their rivals the Northern Blues on Sunday at Preston City oval. In what began as a tight affair, the Blues quickly began to get the game played on their terms and ran all over an injury depleted Coburg outfit for the remainder of the day.
The first quarter seemed to suggest that we were in for a close encounter all day, with both sides showing defined defensive structures and hard attack on the ball as you would expect from a cross-town rivalry match. Ben Griffiths was the first victim of the high intensity game, going down with concussion in just the third minute and not being seen again for the rest of the match. Nick Maric popped through Coburg's first goal with a play on snap around the body from deep in the forward pocket, and captain Nick Carnell added the second with a roosted set shot from the 50m mark. The quarter ended at 2 goals a piece, with the Blues going in to the first change just 2 points ahead.
The second quarter started in a very similar fashion to the first, with Coburg maintaining their high pressure and intensity to match the Blues around the ground. Roughly 10 minutes in however, Blues forward Levi Casboult kicked a huge goal from 60m out on a 40 degree angle, with what would prove to be the catalyst for the Blues second quarter break away. Not long after this goal, Casboult put through another set shot from outside 50 and the flood gates were officially open, as the Blues went on to kick 6 goals unanswered. Coburg's Orren Stephenson stopped the drought through a goal from a free kick inside 50 late in the term, but the damage had been done, and Coburg went in to the half time break trailing by a daunting 40 points.
Whatever Tim Clarke said to the team at half time, it worked. Coburg came out looking much more like their first quarter selves, matching the blues with their effort and intensity all over the ground. Ben Clifton epitomized the fighting spirit which was necessary by laying tackle after tackle all over the ground (11 for the day) while Matt McDonough was crucial aroud the stoppages, winning some important clearances (15) to get the ball moving Coburg's way. Robin Nahas kicked his best goal for the season with a long range snap after getting the better of a couple of Blues defenders, Daniel Venditti kicked a nice goal running inside 50, and Gene Palazzo and Todd Elton also kicked one each in a much better term for Coburg, ending 4 goals to 3 in their favour and reducing the margin to 32 points going in to the final change. Unfortunatley for Coburg, Aaron Edwards went down with an injury which would force him on to crutches for the final term, which added to the earlier concussions of Ben Griffiths and Brett O'Hanlon would leave them with just the 1 bench rotation.
The difficult defecit added to the reduced bench, added to the impressive polish and efficiency of the Blues play, proved to be too much for Coburg in the final term, as the Blues went on to kick 6 goals to 2 and take out the match by 58 points. Helbig and Clifton kicked the only goals for Coburg, with Clifton's coming from the goal square right on the final siren to at least end the match on a positive note. In all though, it was a disappointing result for Coburg, who were competitve for most of the match but had a lapse in concentration in the second quarter and let the Blues build an irretrievable lead - something which unfortunately has become quite a theme this season.
Some of Coburg's better players for the match included the already mentioned Matt McDonough, who was very impressive coming out of the centre, amassing 29 touches and 15 clearances in a performance which certified him as the teams best player for the day. Ozgur Uysal was elevated to the seniors after his enormous game in the development squad last week, and he did not disappoint - collecting the ball 26 times and adding another 6 clearances. David Astbury (3 contested marks, 4 spoils) and Matt Dea (14 touches, 6 marks, 4R50) tried hard in defence all day, while Robin Nahas had another solid game in his push for an AFL call up (29 touches, 7 tackles).
Coburg 9.6.60
Blues 17.16.118
Goals: Carnell, Maric, Venditti, Elton, Nahas, Stephenson, Clifton,Helbig and Palazzo.
Best: McDonough, Nahas, Uysal, Astbury, Verrier, Dea
The development squad also suffered a loss on Sunday, going down by 16 points in a swinging affair which was ruled by a very strong breeze. Coburg used the breeze in the first term to open up a big lead, but the Blues hit back when they got their chance to use it, and ultimately ended up on top.
Coburg 11.13.79
Northern blues 14.11.95
Goals: Robinson and Grgic 2, A.Saad, O.Saad, Keogh, Murphy, Cleary, Bean, Keenan 1.
*Coburg play North Ballarat this Sunday the 4th of August at Mantello Holden Oval.
Development 11am - Seniors 2pm.
Last Modified on 30/07/2013 11:49