The Northern Knights have suffered another devastating loss, this time at the hands of the Oakleigh Chargers. The Chargers jumped out to an early lead in the first term and gradually widened the gap by winning each quarter.
In every quarter the Knights kicked the first goal, but Oakleigh were more consistent throughout the game, while the Knights were only flashing in and out of the game. Tom Snell’s goal in the opening minute was Northern’s only major for the term as Oakleigh replied with five of their own.
Some good forward line pressure resulted in Mitch Anderson opening the scoring in the second term, however once again that was the only goal the Knights could muster. They were able to restrict Oakleigh to only two goals, however the five goal margin at half time looked daunting.
Captain David Zaharakis was in fantastic form on the wing and was shifted up forward in the third term to shake things up. The move paid immediate dividends in the form of a goal from the captain, while Michael Dufficy bobbed up with two in quick succession as well. With their tails up the Knights were unable to sustain this scoreboard pressure and Oakleigh also ended up kicking three for the term.
Once again, the Knights responded at the start of the fourth quarter by kicking two quick goals and once again Oakleigh came right back at them, with interest. Despite having the margin within three goals during the last term the Knights faded out and ended up going down by 55 points.
Zaharakis was the star for the Knights in an energetic performance. Lucas Hobbs and Steve Kelly put in good workmanlike games. Michael Hurley’s versatility was on display with a good showing up forward and down back, while Dufficy provided the Knights with a good lead up target in his best performance for the club. Dylan Grimes was a welcome return after missing the last four games through injury and competed well in defence.
It was a hard loss for Coach Paul Satterley to swallow, particularly given the good form the Knights showed in only small patches.
“It was one of the more disappointing losses of the season. They jumped us early, probably because we didn’t show them enough respect.
“We trained last Thursday and Saturday for an extra edge because we knew they weren’t, but our tackling pressure was nowhere near good enough. It was very poor, except for a few players. Our intensity was low, we were pushed off the ball far too easily and we weren’t winning the contested ball.
“We knew today was going to be a true test and all it showed us is that individually and as a team we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Oakleigh Chargers 16.17.113 def. Northern Knights 8.10.58
Goals: Dufficy 3, Hurley, Zaharakis, Snell, Anderson, Quinton
Best: Zaharakis, Hurley, Dufficy, Kelly, Hobbs, Grimes
Last Modified on 16/06/2008 15:20