Gippsland Times |
FOLLOWING three quarters of sub-standard football, Sale eventually defeated Leongatha by 59 points in round two of the Gippsland League.
It took a six-goal burst in the final quarter to add some respectability to the Sale scoreboard with the Magpies winning 10.20 (80) to Leongatha 2.9 (21).
Spectators who attended the match of the day expecting to see the home side turn on a high standard performance against the 2012 premier came away disappointed.
Players on both sides had difficulty in handling the ball in blustery conditions and irregular bounce on the spongy surface.
Players continually fumbled, dropped marks, and disposed of the ball poorly. Many were cramping by three-quarter-time.
Having 10 players missing from last year's preliminary final side, the Parrots were well undermanned and only poor kicking by the Magpies kept the Parrots in the game until three-quarter-time.
Only four goals from 15 scoring shots were registered by both sides in the first half.
Despite clearly having more possession of the ball, Sale wasted many opportunities and went in at half-time leading by only 17 points.
The Magpies gradually pushed their lead out to 26 points at the final break when coach Matt Ferguson obviously unhappy with his side's performance, insisted on them playing percentage football. At this point the wind suddenly dropped and the standard of play improved as the Magpies responded by playing more directly and peppered the goals with 13 scoring shots to the Parrots' five for the quarter.
For the Magpies, Jack Lipman rucked tirelessly and Andrew Quirk was unstoppable in defence. Youngsters Josh Dunkley, Brenton Rees, and first gamer Nash Holmes also produced creditable performances.
