Border Mail |
JASON Akermanis wasn’t happy and James Saker was. That was more or less it.
Football is a winners’ game, never more evident than after Lavington’s 21-point win over North Albury in a fiery encounter at Lavington Sportsground on Saturday.
Akermanis, in his first year as coach of the Hoppers, was furious his troops got sucked into the constant niggle that plagued the contest.
Saker, meanwhile, was thrilled the Lavington team he coaches didn’t.
Ultimately, the better team won — 22 scoring shots to 11 tells an accurate tale.
The Hoppers had their chances but the Panthers always looked on top.
Akermanis was adamant the Hoppers didn’t help their own cause.
With a string of silly brain-fades that gifted Lavington precious goals in the wet, that point was hard to argue.
“We have got to be more disciplined,” the former Brisbane Lions’ champion said after the defeat.
“Seven 50-metre penalties — we just can’t be doing that.
“They’re just some bad habits we need to fix.”
Akermanis wasn’t happy with Lavington’s work off the ball but refused to detail why.
Either way, he said the Hoppers wouldn’t let that happen again.
The return clash, at Bunton Park in round 17, shapes as a must-watch encounter.
The final 15 minutes erupted into a series of all-in brawls.
“I thought with their aggression, the way they were sort of playing, that won’t happen again,” Akermanis said.
“We’re not going to fall for that one.
“Good for them but for me, as coach, I have got to fix that and make sure next time we are really ready to go.
“Some of the stuff off the ball, I’m not real happy about.
“But that’s OK — in the wet, you get away with it.
“We’ll make sure next time we’re better prepared.”
In torrential conditions, Lavington got in front early thanks to a goal from Jay Banks and was never headed from there.
The closest North Albury got was to within three points when Rory Feltwell caught Matt Pendergast in front of goal, midway through the third quarter.
An upset looked possible.
Tellingly, the Hoppers didn’t kick another goal from that point on.
Saker, again a standout in defence, said there was little doubt the Panthers had matured and were disciplined.
“In times gone by we may have reacted.
“But to our credit, we didn’t get sucked in.”
Sam Harris, Myles Aalbers and Mitch Palmer were productive for the winners, with Craig Mabon’s glove-like tagging job on Akermanis undoubtedly adding to the Brownlow medallist’s frustration post-game.
Saker said there was little doubt Lavington was getting more out of its perceived bottom-tier this season.
“We’ve been getting games into guys who are in that 18 to 23 age bracket,” he said.
“They’ve gone from bit players to playing key roles for us now and that allows our key guys to play with a bit more freedom.”
