Missing passes and players costs Wonthaggi Power

BAIRNSDALE has stayed in touch with the leading division in the Gippsland League, posting its fourth win from seven games against the visiting Wonthaggi Power side at Bairnsdale on Saturday.

There was little between the sides in general play throughout the 120 minutes, but the Redlegs were more polished entering the forward 50 and they took better advantage of their opportunities in front of goal.

Wonthaggi was without the Blair brothers, Jarryd and Jack, and Jakeb Thomas was also missing from the team that narrowly defeated Maffra the week before.

The Power welcomed back Ryan Sparkes, and he was in everything, on the ball and around the ground, but it was a very different looking side from the team that made the journey to Bairnsdale in May last year and came home with a 74-point win.

In fact, 11 were missing from that side including Tom Murray, Lachie Jones, Troy Harley, Jordan Staley, Jakeb Thomas, Harry Dawson, Brodie Mabilia, Tom Davey, Kyle Reid, Jarryd Blair and Jack Blair who all played that day.

But you go with what you have and there were still plenty of familiar names and faces leading the way as they started to mount a challenge in the third quarter, after a slow and inaccurate start, with the Power looking some sort of chance of making a go of it in the last quarter.

The team had strung three goals together in the middle stages of the term and were building momentum.

Jaxon Williams was on the end of a determined passage of play, started by Noah Anderson, applying good forward pressure. He combined with Jye Gilmour and Cooper McInnes coming up into the pay before Shannon Bray snapped towards goal only to have Williams mark on the goal line for the easiest of finishes.

Wonthaggi was relying on Huther in the ruck opposed to Ethan East in a tight contest, and with Sparkes, Gilmour and Lindsay up against Will Mitchell (3) one of Bairnsdale’s standouts on the day, Tom Blenheim and Cooper Harvey.

And it was Huther, Gilmour and Sparkes who engineered the next centre break which ultimately resulted in a goal to Anderson. With an earlier goal to McInnes, they’d produced three goals to two for the quarter and not long after that, Josh Bates made a long run to get on the end of a handpass from Anderson, after good work by Reeve Moresco and Sparkes, to kick a real team-lifting, captain’s goal on the burst.

“Come on!” he called, turning back to the centre and the Power trailed by 23 points still with a quarter and a bit to play.

Isaac Chugg, more off half back than his customary position on the wing, was working hard and everyone was having a red-hot crack as the Power surged forward again.

A great tackle near goal by busy Bairnsdale forward/onballer Lachie Byrne -Jones, taking down Noah Anderson, resulted in a goal but after a period of see-sawing play, Wonthaggi might have taken back the momentum when Gilmour got the ball across to Kaj Patterson in good position, 25 meters out.

It was a goal that simply had to be kicked in the context of the game, but he missed the chance, and instead of being within striking distance of Bairnsdale at the last change, they trailed by almost five goals.

Wonthaggi took up the attack again at the start of the last quarter, but as well as missing easy shots for goal, in perfect conditions at Bairnsdale, they also misfired on their forward entries, making it easier for a more-than-competent Bairnsdale defence, featuring the likes Toms, Stewart, Jamie Dore and others, to clear it away.

Ultimately, it was Bairnsdale which kicked the sealer about 10 minutes in, finding loose players while moving the ball around the boundary, or typically when switching it out of defence, and it was Jonah Walker who marked and snapped truly to make the margin unassailable for the visiting Wonthaggi side.

Isaac Chugg was named best for Wonthaggi, but he did the bulk of his work bolstering the defence rather than up high attacking from the wing. Ryan Sparkes was a godsend, in everything in an effort to make the Power competitive. Shannon Bray constantly backed himself coming forward out of defence, and also when making a rare appearance in attack. Jye Gilmour was a goer all day against good opposition on the ball and Josh Bates and Fergus O’Connor were two of the team’s defensive winners on the day.

Power lost by 35 points, but it wasn’t that clear cut in general play, and they came away with plenty of positives from the new crop of players who made the longest trip in local football.