The Courier |
PLAYING on a heavy, but vastly improved surface, Sunbury took until the 20-minute mark of the final quarter to secure a 30-point victory over a focused and valiant Lake Wendouree at Wendouree Reserve on Saturday.
Sunbury coach Rick Horwood praised Lake Wendouree for players' endeavour, skill, and intensity at the ball.
"Lakers really took it up to us. They're really well coached and have got some good young kids. In the first half, they led us in all of the KPI areas," he said.
However, Horwood said he was disappointed with the attitude of his players
"We came here thinking Lakers are second last, and we played accordingly. We got the four points, but that's all," he said.
Assisted by a swirling breeze, Lake Wendouree outmuscled, outplayed and outran Sunbury in the first quarter, holding the Eastern Lions to a solitary goal while piling on four majors to push the Lakers towards a well deserved 17-point margin at quarter time.
As expected, the Eastern Lions took full advantage of the breeze to kick six majors in the second quarter, with key forwards Ross Sleight and Simon Clarke providing an effective avenue towards the big sticks.
But what Sunbury didn't expect was Lake Wendouree kicking four six pointers against the wind, including two goals in two minutes from forward Nick Aringo late in the second term, which helped propel the Lakers into a six-point lead at the long break.
The third quarter was 'make or break' for both teams, but both Sunbury and the Lakers squandered the opportunity to seize the initiative.
Sunbury's forward line eventually switched into top gear, but was only rewarded with a flurry of minor scores from gettable shots, until Simon Clarke and Matthew Baird finally brought up a goals each late in the term to give the Lions a meagre five-point, three-quarter lead.
Staring an unlikely victory in the face, Lake Wendouree coach Gavin Webb urged his midfielders to continue to take on the renowned Lion's midfield machine, and told his players "that we do need to win the game from here".
The 'Green Machine' responded by kicking the opening goal of the final term to hold a slender lead at the seven-minute mark, but any chance of a memorable win was crushed as the Sunbury players dug deep into their experience and skill-set folders, to slot through five unanswered majors and collect the points.
Webb said he was pleased by his team's ability to match Sunbury in all departments for most of the game.
"I couldn't fault the effort but, in the end, good sides like Sunbury make you pay, and we made a couple of skill errors which cost us goals," he said.
