Eagles win battle of the birds in second semi
SOMETIMES a team has to do it the hard way in finals, which is the case for Leongatha in the 2019 series.
The Parrots went down to Maffra in the second semi-final on Saturday after a strong final term from the Eagles, and will take on Sale in the preliminary final this week.
Coach Paul Carbis believes there are positives to take from the game, despite the loss.
“We thought we did pretty well, we dominated a lot of the ball and we were all over them in the second and third terms,” he said.
“They took their chanc4s and we didn’t though, which was probably the difference.”
Maffra started quickest, with two early goals and all the play.
The Parrots bounced back soon after though, and by the third term had dominated play and taken the lead through a Jack Ginnane behind.
It was always an arm wrestle in the conditions at Maffra’s home ground however, and the Eagles kicked three majors to none in the all-important final term to come away with the win.
“Your method sort of goes out of the window in the windy or wet conditions; you just have to play old-fashioned footy and get some luck or create your own, but we got neither,” coach Carbis said.
“Maffra run in waves and score quickly, and unfortunately we couldn’t match them in that last term.”
Bowman, Willis and Marriott were the standout players for ‘Gatha, ensuring the side stayed competitive in hopes of booking a grand final spot, but while these names were strong, the team failed to play their brand of football.
This is something which Carbis hopes they will get back to doing in the preliminary final this week.
“We’re excited to get back on track this week and hopefully we can get back to the way we play and get our confidence back,” he said.
A matchup with Moe should be a good test for the Parrots but, having defeated them by 114 points just a few weeks ago, it is one they feel prepared for.
“We’ve played them recently so we just need to go about our work as usual,” coach Carbis said.
“We’ll get right this week and have a good session on Thursday to go again on Saturday and hopefully setup another shot at Maffra.”
The side will undoubtedly be eager to regain some confidence this week in an attempt to book a third straight grand final against the Eagles.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Sep 13 2019. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
