Parrots pay the price against rivals
Leongatha paid the price for a poor first half which included a scoreless opening term against second spot Maffra on Saturday.
The Parrots played an inspired final quarter but could not recover in time, going down 88-65, their rivals exacting revenge for their previous matchup.
“We made too many fundamental errors and turned it over too much, especially in that first quarter,” coach Paul Carbis said.
“We were lucky they kicked poorly and kept us in the game.”
The home team applied intense pressure to the Parrots and capitalised off turnovers, resulting in goal kicking opportunities for Bennett and Bedggood.
This saw them achieve an 18-0 quarter-time lead and a 52-22 lead at the main break.
Coach Carbis watched on as his side could not put a foot right in the first two quarters.
“It was a bit of everything,” he said.
“We were fumbling, missing kicks, dropping marks, and when you face a quality opposition like Maffra, they make you pay.”
Gatha put up a fight however, slowly coming into the game in the third quarter.
Cam Olden was again inspiring for the away side in the middle of the park, winning a lot of the pill and making strong and fast decisions with it.
Ben Willis and Patrick McGrath, both of whom returned to the side last week, were also strong for the Parrots and provided a much-needed spark.
“Cam Olden was great for us again and Ben Willis and Patty McGrath were both really good and helped to get us going a bit,” coach Carbis said.
“Willis and McGrath have only just come back as well so that’s a really good sign.”
The score stood at 83-41 at the final break but after settling into the game the Parrots were motivated to not go home without a fight.
The side clamped down on Maffra’s offence in the final term, keeping them to just five behinds, and put four goals on the board through Maskell, Wright, Nagel and Dunne.
With injuries to Nagel, Easton and Borschman hitting the team however, and with such a large deficit to climb back from, the Parrots fell by 23 points.
“We had a few injuries again but the boys won’t give up, they keep on fighting each week,” coach Carbis said.
“It was a frustrating game but you like your team to finish off well, which thankfully has been a pattern for us.”
While this loss puts Leongatha two games outside of the top four, coach Carbis is confident his team can respond well and put together a run.
“The good thing about this team is we do bounce back after poor performances.”
“We didn’t play up to our usual standards, so hopefully we can get on top of that and have a better performance against Traralgon.”
Seniors: Maffra 12.16.88 def Leongatha 10.5.65.
Reserves: Maffra 17.6.108 def Leongatha 7.9-51
Thirds: Maffra 8.9.57 def Leongatha 4.7.31.
Fourths: Maffra 8.13.61 def Leongatha 2.6.18.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Jun 25 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
