Lions secure vital victory against Pies

AS WE roll into the second half of the season, I don’t think we could have wished for a more competitive round of football, where in every single clash the result could conceivably go either way and whichever way it was to go, it was sure to have an impact on the season. 

It was surely the last roll of the dice for Stony Creek, three wins in the first half of the season was never going to cut it for finals football, sure there have been a number of the Lion’s losses which have been by just a single figure margins which has not helped their cause, but hosting Toora on the weekend is one the home side could not let slip through their fingers, as they may as well be letting what slim hope they had of a finals berth be doing the same.

With that in mind, the Lions did the job 15-6-96 to the Magpies 11-10-76.

The result is one the Stony Creek side desperately needed and one that has been a long time coming.

“We managed to start the game well again,” Chris Verboon, Stony Creek coach said.

“Toora changed a few things up in the second quarter and played some good footy to get back into the game. It was a tight contest until the end. We struggled throughout the year to finish games but I was really happy with our last quarter. We had blokes stand up when it counted.”

It may well be the confidence-building win the Lions needed to take them to the next step in believing they are capable of much greater things.

Toora too, even in losing, can take plenty of positives from the result.

“Twenty-one scoring shots all,” Jack Weston, Toora coach said.

“If we had a coach that could kick straight and not give the opposition a six-goal head start who knows. That’s footy though, credit to Chris and Stony who took their chances when we let them turn the ball over high up the ground. Bye next week will hopefully give us some chance to freshen up and look to take some scalps of finals contenders in the back end. Newborough first up after the bye.”

A coach can always feel they could do more, especially in reflection, but the Magpies coach has the support of the team, the club and the community, which in itself is a win on the way to securing premiership points in the future.