MACK TRUCK MATCH REVIEW - PIES FADE IN FINAL QUARTER
Andrew Thomson
It was a game between 4th and 5th on the ladder and it lived up to expectations for 3 quarters as a good tight contest all day despite the final margin. In tight games height and experience is like kicking with a 6 Goal wind and today that was the difference .
The Pies battled well and continued to pressure the Panthers all day, a few missed opportunities early proved costly, while the experienced Panthers took their chances.
Pershouse and De Winter provided goodtargets up front and worked hard all day. Saunders had a great day out and was too good on the day and he was well supported by Murphy and Easton who is getting back into some really consistent form.
The back six worked hard and it was good to see the Brady Allen back and performing well after knee surgery. Again Marshall was strong and consistent all day and was well supported by Goodall down back.
Ielasi and Crawford were the pick of our mids this week with both proving hard to handle , they were well supported by the rest of the midfield who took the battle to the Panthers.
The game was close all day and it was pleasing that when Morningside got a run on this young team not only halted the momentum but repeatedly turned it to work their way back into the game and on the score board.
The final quarter saw the Panther experience and size finally wear down the young Pies and they managed to secure the game by 5 goals.
Coach's Thoughts - Brydan Morgan
" It lived up to expectations a good hard game between 4 and 5 on the ladder. I thought we played well against a good opposition. They do have some good talls to go to when the game is tight and there is no doubt that they have great experience out on the track, and that was the difference today against our young developing team.
I was pleased with the fact that we did continue to fight back and we continued to be in the game , again like last week I thought at times we overused the ball but in saying that we also showed that when we move the ball quickly and use the right longer option we can score efficiently and quickly
It would have been interesting if we had managed to convert our opportunities in the first half and in particular in quarter 1, in this close match that score board pressure would have been handy. ".
In summary there has been a lot of improvement in this young group and if we continue in this positive way we will win our share of games over the coming weeks "
2.3-15 4.6-30 9.10-64 10.12-72
3.0-18 7.4-46 10.10-70 15.11-101
Goal Kickers: J. De Winter 3, L. Dwyer 2, T. Ielasi, J. Murphy, L. Murray, B. Saunders, C. Pershouse
Best Players: G. Crawford, B. Allen, T. Ielasi, H. Marshall, J. Goodall, B. Saunders