BY DANIEL JOYCE
The Geelong Falcons have defeated the Eastern Ranges in what was a tight contest that saw the Falcons run out late to win by 27 points.
In a losing side the two Josh’s, Hannon (four goals) and Begley (three goals) were targets up forward, while the midfield was lead by the run of Thomas North (15 disposals) and Nelson Lane (18 disposals); with Harrison Nolan (12 disposals) leading the defence in a strong display.
After making the trip down to Avalon Airport Oval in Werribee an undermanned Eastern Ranges got off to a slow start in what was a high intensity first term with both teams struggling to register a major in the first 15 minutes of the quarter. However, after Hannon got the first goal for the Ranges at the sixteen minute markof the term,the flood gates opened up with two more majors coming in the space of as many minutes courtesy of Mitchell Jones, and Begley. After Lane slotted another after some hard running through the middle, the boys had a handy 17 point lead at the first change.
It didn’t take long for Eastern to continue their strong start; it took less than a minute of play for Begley to kick his second goal for the day. When Joel Garner kicked a brilliant snap on the run from 35 meters out on a tight angle to extend the lead to almost five goals, it looked as though the boys in royal blue were going to be hard to stop. However, it was all Geelong from that point onwards. They kicked six of the last seven goals of the first half to take a narrow two point lead at the main break.
Eastern just couldn’t seem to slow down their oppositions momentum as it continued on into the second half. Geelong kicked the first two goals of the third term after dominating the play, with the Ranges really struggling to get the ball in their scoring half of the ground. There was a midterm turn around, with Hayes (28 hit-outs) dominating in the ruck helping to set up the likes of Jones, North and Callum Brown (30 disposals, 12 clearances), who lead the charge through the middle of the ground, swinging the match back in the Ranges favour. The trend of Eastern scoring quickly continued as they piled on three goals in the space of two minutes, with North playing a hand in two of those. Continuing his dominate contested marking up forward, Hannon had the opportunity to close the gap to just one goal on the three quarter time siren, but his set shot was just wide.
After really getting the match back on their terms, Eastern was looking to keep applying strong pressure both around the ground, and on the scoreboard, to start the last term. They were able to achieve one of those two goals. The strong intensity that the boys were displaying was leading to scoring opportunities, but they failed to convert them as a Begley set shot hit the post, and another running effort by Lane went astray. Eventually there was reward for effort after a quick transition of play, following a strong defensive mark by Nolan, who had been terrific down back all day, that lead to a another Hannon mark, and another Hannon goal, his fourth for the afternoon. Although that would be the Ranges last goal for the day as Geelong took the match away from there. This was not before some resilient defensive spoils and marks by the likes of Nolan, Kane Keppel (16 disposals) and Shaun McMilan who were desperately trying to keep the match alive, with some intense Geelong pressure being applied in their forward half. But the dam wall eventually broke as the Falcons kicked the final three goals for the match.
NEXT UP:
In what was a valiant effort from an Eastern Ranges side missing the likes of Dylan Clarke and Jordan Gallucci; following the loss to the Falcons they find themselves sitting at 6th on the ladder with a 3-2 win-loss record. This Saturday the boys will travel down to Bendigo looking to redeem themselves in what shapes as a important game against the Bendigo Pioneers who are 1-4 in 13th position.
GEELONG FALCONS: 1.4 7.6 11.12 13.18 (96)
EASTERN RANGES: 4.3 7.4 10.6 11.8 (74)
GOALS:
Geelong Falcons: Worpel 3, McLachlan 2, Blair 2, Dowling 2, McCarthy 2, Henry, Cockerill.
Eastern Ranges: Hannon 4, Begley 3, North, Garner, Jones, Lane.
BEST:
Geelong Falcons: Worpel, Elliot, Augerinos, Thompson, McCartney, Blair.
Eastern Ranges: Hannon, Nolan, North, Lane, Stevens, Hayes.
Last Modified on 03/05/2016 12:14