The Knights made an unsuccessful trip down the highway to take on the Geelong Falcons on Saturday. There was a last minute change due to bad weather from Skilled Stadium to Bell Recreation Reserve in Hamlyn Heights. On quite a miserable day the Falcons led at every change to walk away with the four points.
Knights Region Manager Peter Kennedy wasn’t too perturbed by his sides commitment and even praised their efforts in the contest. “Our attack on the ball was good. Our tackling was also good, but that was probably because we were second to the ball a bit too often, but we were attacking the contest hard.”
The first quarter saw the Knights fail to register a goal and could only manage three behinds, but inaccuracy in front of goal did end up become a theme of the day.
In the second term Tindarra Hood capitalised on a defensive error from the Falcons for the Knights’ first and only goal of the half. Three more behinds meant that the Knights were trailing 6.5.41 to 1.6.12 at the main break.
Kennedy certainly saw this as a major problem. “We just struggled with accuracy in front of goals. Finishing is an area that we have a lot of work to do on. You compare that to Geelong. They ran in well and finished off well and that was a big difference.”
The third term was a much better one for the Knights – the only one they won for the day. Unfortunately it was only a slender advantage as they added 2.4 to the Falcons 1.2. Steven Kelly and Anton Woods kicked the goals from being in the right position at the front of the contest.
Kennedy noted this as a key component of wet weather football. “Our players need to continue working harder to get to the fall of the ball, especially on a wet day when the ball is hitting the ground a lot.”
The difference between the two teams in front of goal was accentuated in the final quarter with the Falcons kicking a perfect 4.0, while the Knights continued to struggle by adding 2.5. Despite having one less scoring shot the Falcons ended up with a 29 point win.
“We are 1-5, but we’re not that worried about the score line. What is important to us is that we just want to get the process right. We have a young side (17 first year players in this game) and we have to keep working on everything we set down in our team rules – front and centre to the contest, giving the first option, protecting your team mate.” Kennedy said.
Geelong Falcons 11.8.74 def. Northern Knights 5.15.45
Goals: Hood 2, Woods, Kelly, Hobbs
Best: Lambert, Hood, Kelly, Dufficy, Woods, Snell
Last Modified on 19/05/2008 16:38