Senior
|
¼time
|
½ time
|
¾ time
|
Full Time
|
Coburg
|
3.2.20
|
5.5.35
|
6.7.43
|
8.8.56
|
Port Melbourne
|
5.4.34
|
6.7.43
|
10.9.69
|
19.15.129
|
Best: Venditti, Thomas, Proud, Saad, Hartley, Linton
Goals: Hill 2, Carnell, Clark, Venditti, Younan, Sortino, Thomas
By Jason De Vincentis
Port Melbourne took control in the second half led by Will Johnson’s five goals and a best on ground performance from Chris Cain to run out 73-point winners against a young and inexperienced Coburg outfit at Piranha Park on Saturday.
The first half was tightly contested from both sides, with the Borough leading by 8 points at half time, but a three goal third quarter by Josh Scipione broke the game open and the Lions were unable to recover.
Clear skies, no wind - simply beautiful conditions to kick off the 2014 season at the newly named Piranha Park.
The action began with captain Nick Carnell goaling off a break from 45 metres out to get the first goal of the game for the Lions. Minutes later Nathan Thomas added the second goal of the game, and signs of an upset were being shown.
Port Melbourne settled down and fired back with a goal from Billy Hogan, and then former Saint Will Johnson put through his first of many on the day. At the break the Borough had a 14-point lead.
The second quarter was far better from Coburg. Daniel Venditti was leading the way in the midfield and had 21 disposals at half time. The Lions were sturdy in defence only allowing one goal for the term due to players such as Michael Hartley and Jonathan Proud. Adam Saad was key in bringing the ball out of defence, having 14 disposals and 5 rebound 50s for the half.
Another positive was the Lions’ pressure. This resulted in quick transition play and goals to Dion Hill and Daniel Younan firing to cut the lead to 8 points at half time.
The second half was highly anticipated after a ferocious first 40 minutes. Young forward Matthew Clark kicked the first goal of the quarter and the Burgers had brought it back to one point within the first five minutes.
But it was there when Port Melbourne stepped up the game. Josh Scipione took the game by the scruff of the neck midway through the third term and banged on three consecutive goals to break the game open and give Port Melbourne a 26-point lead going into three quarter time.
At the huddle, Coburg coach Peter German pleaded with his players to be first to the ball and look for the overlap on the wings to create some run.
Unfortunately for the home side, the young players struggled to run out the game and the Borough took control. Their midfield led by James Magner eased any hopes of a comeback and piled on 8 consecutive final quarter goals to blow the game out and win by 73 points.
German wasn’t without some positivity about the game.
“I thought we pressured well and forced them to turn the ball over” he said.
The next two weeks of training will be critical down at Piranha Park, as the Lions look towards their round 2 clash against their former affiliated club Richmond.
Development
|
¼time
|
½ time
|
¾ time
|
Full Time
|
Coburg
|
2.4.16
|
5.6.36
|
8.8.56
|
10.10.70
|
Port Melbourne
|
4.2.26
|
10.5.65
|
13.10.88
|
13.17.95
|
Best: Anderson, McConville, Cooper, Robortella, Abdallah, Bean
Goals: Anderson 3, Abdallah 2, Z.Saad 2, Evans, McConville, Cooper
Port Melbourne controlled the stoppages to defeat Coburg by 25 points in Round 1 of the Development game last Saturday.
The Lions were given a boost with the full game return of Jake Anderson with three goals amongst 22 disposals but were unable to win the midfield battle due to being understocked in the ruck.
Last week’s ruck hero Ben Sortino earned a call-up to the seniors as well as the injury to Adrian Fancellu resulted in John Cooper acting for the majority of the game as the sole ruck and it was an uphill battle from there.
The Lions lost the hitout battle 59 to 21, and subsequently the clearances 30 to 21 which resulted in numerous chances for Port Melbourne going forward. Damian Mascitti led the Borough along half-forward with two goals and created havoc for the Coburg defence who panicked with the ball in their hands often kicking and hoping, whilst under severe pressure.
Port’s game style of chipping the ball across the boundary line was routine at times, with the Borough winning the uncontested mark count 129 to 80.
That being said, the Lions didn’t back down and hung in for the fight. They were never truly out of the game and when Port Melbourne looked like they would blow the game out, Coburg would hit back with a goal or two to make sure the game was still relevant and it’s a credit to the players for not giving up when faced with adversity.
Coburg now look towards Werribee in two weeks time and it’ll be another test for the young Lions, but with each game comes a wealth of experience to help them fight on another day.
Last Modified on 04/04/2014 13:26