Panthers fumble in front of goal

COMING back from a bye, Kilcunda Bass was challenged by second-placed Tooradin Dalmore.

Despite a 53-point loss and an unfortunate scoreline, the Panthers were pleased with the statistics and confident in their game – they just couldn’t get it through the big sticks.

“We felt we had more of the footy on the day, and our statistics did reflect that. We just couldn’t convert our opportunities,” Kilcunda Bass coach Lee Rowe said.

“Bar the overuse of handballing – which would’ve been due to the pressure of the opposition – we were happy with the way we played, and our strategies were working.”

Playing at the Bass Recreation Reserve, both teams had trouble in front of goal, but an early lead allowed Tooradin Dalmore to stay in control of the game.

A little bit of a breeze favoured the social room end and picked up through the day.

Kilcunda Bass had the breeze to start but only managed one goal to Tooradin Dalmore’s four.

The Panthers were looking to reel the opposition back in during the second quarter.

However, this is where their game fell apart, with the Panthers failing to make use of its chances, kicking one goal and seven behinds.

The Panthers were in a nervy place at halftime, sitting 24 points behind.

They had the breeze during the third quarter, but the end result was just two behinds.

Tooradin Dalmore faced its own struggles during the third quarter, kicking two goals and eight behinds, producing a similar scoreline to Kilcunda Bass.

Kilcunda Bass’ backline stood up well against the tough opposition throughout the day.

Despite the scoreboard, the Panthers felt the team played well through the third quarter.

Nathan Foote once again had a dominant performance and had a whopping 43 possessions for the game.

Jack Soroczynski worked hard through the middle and Lochlan Scott was moved into the ruck role holding his own against one of Tooradin Dalmore’s key players.

The last quarter was tough for both sides, with more points added to the scoreboard than goals, but Tooradin Dalmore had done enough early to ensure a handy win.

Kilcunda Bass had six opportunities in the first 12 minutes of the term to turn it all around, but only managed to add one goal and four behinds.

“We were disappointed – it was one of those ‘shake your head’ sort of days,” Rowe said.

“We did come away with some confidence though, because we did feel we played well. The scoreboard had us feeling flat, but all other indicators told us what we were doing was working.”

It doesn’t get any easier for Kilcunda Bass, which will be heading off to face Nar Nar Goon this Saturday.

The Panthers are looking forward to their chance to take on the top team.

The larger grounds can sometimes catch the Panthers out, but they will be going in hard to try to nullify Nar Nar Goon as much as possible.