IT’S not often that one football team holds their opponent goalless, across 120 minutes of play but that’s exactly what happened on Saturday at Wonthaggi.
At least until half time, however, the scoreboard didn’t tell the whole story of the contest between Wonthaggi Power and Bairnsdale.
In fact, the first thing Wonthaggi Power coach Jarryd Blair said to his players at the quarter time huddle was “they’ve come to play”.
They had. Partly as a result of the Power’s own inaccuracy after numerous entries into the forward 50 and partly due to a fluky wind but also the defensive efforts of the visiting Bairnsdale side, Wonthaggi managed only one goal in the first quarter to Bairnsdale’s one solitary point.
Bairnsdale’s vice captain Kieran Vickery had won the toss, and kicked with the breeze to the swimming pool end of the ground and while they had their chances, including a snap from Nathan Dennison halfway through the quarter, it was Wonthaggi which had most of the possession and looked the one most likely to score.
Straight out of the centre, after the first bounce, Ryan Sparkes combined with Jack Blair, Jack Hutchinson and Noah Anderson for the first shot on goal, for a point.
Moments later Isaac Chugg, Aiden Lindsay and Tom Davey linked up but again, a snap shot for a point was the result.
An excellent passage of play, working the ball from defence to attack, through the hands of Reid, Blair, Jones, Sparkes, Hayes and Jones again with Hutchinson marking on the lead, looked certain to be the opener.
But Hutchinson’s kick towards the right-hand goal post, swerved wickedly away and barely hit the point post way across to the left.
Both Davey and Brodie Mabilia took shots next, with Mabilia eking out another point but there were still no goals either way by half-way through the quarter.
It took the Power captain Lindsay to show his team the way home, on the end of more good work by Josh Bates, Jack Blair, Sparkes and Hutchinson.
Lindsay might have had another soon afterwards when he led up well to a pass from Cooper McInnes, however, while he allowed for the wind, it didn’t blow and his shot from 30 metres sailed through the points.
Despite the lack of goals, Jarryd Blair, said he didn’t describe it as a “bad start” at quarter time, noting the number of good passages of play, but he was looking for a lift in enthusiasm in the second quarter.
And that’s what he got, kicking with the wind this time, despite a concerted effort by Bairnsdale to play the scoreboard or defensive side of the ground.
More points followed after the restart but finally, at the 7-minute mark, Hunter Tiziani accepted a pass from Lachie Jones, to get the goals rolling.
Noah Anderson was lively up forward again this week and ran clear to kick the next after good defensive pressure by Davey. The same pressure moments later, featuring a perfect tackle by Davey near goal, brought up the next.
Bairnsdale’s defenders including Byron Vickery on Hutchinson, Logan Austin on Davey and others tight on McInnes were limiting their effectiveness with Vickery saving what looked to be a certain goal by Hutchinson.
But there was a bit of feeling in the contest too, and after a heavy tackle by a Bairnsdale player brought a response from Wonthaggi, things got out of hand for a while until the umpires restored order with a free kick and 50-metre penalty to Harry Dawson, resulting in the easiest of goals.
Wonthaggi had kicked into gear with six goals to nil for the quarter and there was no coming back from there for Bairnsdale.
Certainly, the hallmark of Wonthaggi’s play this year has been their team defence and that was again on show at Wonthaggi on Saturday but their score of 16.21 indicates how potent they have become up forward as well, not only from the likes of Cooper McInnes who kicked 4 on Saturday, Jack Hutchinson, 2, and Troy Harley (missing this week) but also with Noah Anderson, 2, developing his forward craft and a number of others ready to chip in including Chugg, Davey, Sparkes and others.
One of the highlights of the match on Saturday was a running goal by Jaxon Williams, coming off a wing, and slotting through a beauty, much to the delight of his teammates.
Wonthaggi now have their sights firmly set on finishing top, with a path straight through to the second semi-final, should Leongatha slip up against Moe on August 12 with three winnable games against Warragul, Traralgon (at Wonthaggi) and Morwell remaining.
