GIPPSLAND POWER MEDIA RELEASE
BY BRYAN MITCHELL
After two consecutive losses, the Loy Yang B Gippsland Power returned to a more effective brand of team football when they recorded a solid victory over the Northern Knights. The Power were strengthened by the return of eight players with Alex Saunders, Josh Cashman, Jordie Cunico, Bohdi Walker, Jack Leslie and Jake Thomas back from state duties, while Christian Bukyx-Smith and Aaron Heppell were available after being injured. Added to this impressive list of quality players was the inclusion of rookie Mitch Stanlake for his TAC Cup debut.
In testing conditions at Morwell, the Knights exploited some indecisive Power defence to take an early lead. The Power hit back with a good goal from Jake Thomas after some hard work by Lachie Channing. The Knights responded after a free kick and fifty metre penalty and then extended their lead with another after a Power turnover due to further poor decision making. It took a penetrating kick by Jordie Cunico to allow Alex“Poomba” Saunders to snap a clever goal and then some intense forward pressure resulted in another goal from Declan Keilty.
By the first change the Power led by one point but should have been much further ahead based on the pattern of general play. They had twice the number of forward-fifty entries to the Knights but had wasted many opportunities with sloppy finishing. This inefficiency had cost them the game against the Bushies last week and Nick Stevens had lots to discuss at the quarter time break.
Things got worse early in the second term as the Knights scored the first goal to remind the Power that they were prepared to exploit any flaws in their levels of application. Some impressive hard work by Liam Nash and Ed Morris allowed Josh Scott to open his account and then Jack Leslie kicked a long bomb after further pressure resulted in a turnover by the Knights. Instead of building on this more effective play, the Power began to waste hard-won scoring opportunities.
Late in the quarter some long and direct forward play by Scott and Alex Carr allowed Morris to score a crucial goal but the Knights hit back with a telling major after the siren for half time. The Power had extended their lead to twelve points but had again been very wasteful compared to the more efficient Knights who had seven less forward-fifty entries to the Power.
It was the Knights who took the early initiative in the third term and they quickly had two goals on the board after some poor play by the Power. Once again the Power were wasting their own scoring opportunities and the Knights added to their woes by scoring another against the run of play. Mid-way through the quarter the Knights had the Power on the back foot but, some good work by Morris set up Scott for a timely Power reply.
With the game up for grabs, Alex Saunders wove some of his special magic to allow Scott to snap his second for the term. It was the Power who regained the initiative after some excellent forward pressure and more effective ball use and Scott was again able to finish off the work with a vital late goal. By the last change the Power had a seventeen point lead after trailing earlier in the term and seemingly had seized the momentum from the determined Knights. They had applied some intense forward pressure with over ten tackles inside fifty and had finally begun to kick goals
The conditions had made it tough on all the players and the relative fitness of both sides was going to be a key factor in the last term. The Power were under the pump due to some more wasteful forward play and had allowed the Knights to be in a far too competitive position. They had had twice the number of forward-fifty entries to the Knights and thirteen more scoring shots but still only led just under three goals.
It took some more excellent forward pressure to allow another goal from the Power “go to” man Scott but the Knights hit back hard with a critical goal to apply pressure to the Power. As if inspired by this, the Power used some fine vision and skill to set up Keilty to snap a telling goal. But, once again the Knights responded by exploiting some lazy Power defence on the rebound.
It was now crunch time and the Power really lifted their work rate to initially stop the turnovers and then set up more effective scoring opportunities themselves. Ed Morris went long and direct into the forward line and Alex Saunders kicked the match winner after cleverly reading the play and snapping truly. Tom Muir then took the ball and used Keilty to set up a “give and go” before he found Morris who kicked another fine tem goal.
Final scores; Loy Yang B Gippsland Power 13 goals 19 points 97 behinds defeated the Northern Knights 10 goals 11 behinds 71 points. Goal kickers; Josh Scott 5, Alex Saunders, Declan Keilty and Ed Morris 2, Jack Leslie and Jake Thomas 1. On a day when some direction was needed it was Youngster Jordie Cunico who set the tone for team mates with his best TAC Cup game. He had been impressive in the state game last weekend and continued that form this week. He won many contested possessions, took eight fine marks and kicked the ball effectively to set up his fellow Power players.
Jack Leslie was another who returned from Darwin in good form and he worked tirelessly in the rucking contests all over the ground. He wasn’t content with this important contribution and was able to win many contested issues at ground level with strong tackling and clever use of the ball by hand and foot. Bohdi Walker is a highly skilled youngster who is on a steep learning curve in his first TAC Cup season. He showed just how much he has learned so far with some outstanding defence as well as his unique ability to be a creative play maker with his run, evasive skills and great use of the ball under pressure.
Nathan Dennison is another who has made impressive progress in 2013 and he was an important member of the on-ball brigade with his ability to win the hard-ball. He backed up this fine work ethic with the confidence use his skills to take on opponents with run and to set up play with good hand and foot skills. Josh Scott always has at least two opponents in aerial contests but not only wins the marking duels but is just as competitive at ground level. He not only kicked five goals, but also had a dozen telling handballs in a complete team game.
In a game where effective on-ballers were crucial, Ed Morris again stood up when needed in another fine display of unselfish play. He accumulated many telling contested possessions but also worked equally as hard to apply pressure on opponents with hard tackles and the use of shepherds to protect team mates. Fellow on-baller Alex Carr continued his impressive progress after recovering from injury with the ability to win many contested possessions with his hard-nosed play. He capped his game off with the important ability to use the ball with long and perceptive kicks to his team mate’s advantage.
After a strong pre-season effort where he responded manfully to the challenges involved, Brandon Baillie has taken full advantage of his recent call-up to the Power side. He played his usual, unselfish, team-oriented football and used his skills and ability to read the play to telling effect.
The Power now has a week off for a scheduled TAC Cup bye. Some of the key players will be involved in more state football but the majority of the squad will have a week off to aid their rehabilitation from what has been an intense season. Nick was pleased with what he saw from the boys against the Knights after their two losses but won’t be content with that standard for the rest of the season.
He is well aware of the potential of the 2013 Power squad and what they need to do to be able to be consistently competitive in the elite competition. The boys will be tested in their next TAC Cup game against the North Ballarat Rebels as several of the side’s stars will be required to play for their state in Adelaide. Nick will challenge some of the youngsters and less experienced players to step up the mark and try to eliminate the deficiencies that were so costly against the Ranges and Bushies.
Last Modified on 30/06/2014 09:42