General News
26 June, 2019
Bloods take down Magpies
TERANG Mortlake football coach Michael Sargeant wants his side to take plenty of confidence from last Saturday’s win over Camperdown into its games against the Hampden’s league best sides.
TERANG Mortlake football coach Michael Sargeant wants his side to take plenty of confidence from last Saturday’s win over Camperdown into its games against the Hampden’s league best sides.
Sargeant was happy with the Bloods gritty 12.7 (79) to 8.16 (64) triumph after they dictated the Magpies in the midfield, constantly winning first possession and then using it efficiently to give their forwards opportunities.
He said the Bloods had often been breaking down entering forward 50 in its previous games, but did not have an issue penetrating the Magpies defence having caught their opponents out of position on several occasions.
The midfield’s effectiveness was then rewarded on the scoreboard, mainly by forward Stephen Staunton, who was a constant aerial threat on his way to a haul of six goals and a best on ground performance.
“We thought we moved the ball pretty well around the contest,” Sargeant said.
“We were pretty good with our hands, we were clean and that gave us opportunities to get it into our forwards one on one.
“At the end of the day that’s been the story of our season, when we get it in there we’ve been good, it’s just been the balance (around the contest) and getting it into our forwards that has been the issue.”
Sargeant said the Bloods, who were also well served by defender Joe Arundell and midfielders Gus Bourke and Jarryd Hay, would now use the performance as a guide to matching the competition’s premier teams.
He said his side needs to focus on producing its best football for longer, starting with second placed Warrnambool this weekend.
“We understand we’re a little bit off getting a hold of these big sides but I think we are definitely starting to bridge the gap,” he said.
“We really got a good look at the way we need to play to be a competitive side (against Camperdown) so hopefully we can feed off this confidence a bit more.
“I’ve got no doubt our best is enough to match it with those sides but it’s about maintaining it for as long as we can, we just want to make sure we’re consistent across all four quarters.
“That’s the big question mark and the thing we are striving to do most, we do it in patches but we let ourselves down for 15 minutes of a quarter and then we get blown away.”
Terang Mortlake’s open netball coach Lisa Arundell wants her side to continue winning the games it needs to after the Bloods accounted for Camperdown last Saturday.
The two sides along with South Warrnambool were in an arm wrestle for fifth position on the ladder ahead of the encounter, but it was the Bloods who moved clear of both its rivals following a 49-37 triumph.
Their cause was also helped by Port Fairy beating the Roosters, with the two results lifting the Bloods from sixth to fifth, leaving them four points and percentage clear of the pair.
“These are the sort of wins we need to have, we need to beat these teams around us so I was really happy with that,” Arundell said.
“Going forward we obviously want to keep winning those games, but at this stage we’re just taking it week to week.
“When we have played the top three teams we know we have played some good quarters, but we know we have to string together four good quarters to beat those sides.
“We just have to focus on that and hopefully we can find ourselves in the five later in the year.”
Last Saturday’s match was a competitive affair for the opening three quarters, with the Bloods forced to work back into the contest after the Magpies made a strong start.
Terang Mortlake finally hit the front in the third quarter and did not look back from that point, with an 18-8 last term helping them record a comfortable 12 goal win.
“They got away to a good start and I think they led by three, but it was sort of even pegging from there,” Arundell said.
“It wasn’t until after half-time that we got the game back on our terms, but I was really pleased we managed to stay in touch in the first half even though we didn’t play to our best.
“That’s what we have to learn to do, stay in the mix and not let teams get away from us.
“I was really happy with that and especially with our last quarter. A lot of the things we are working on at training are now starting to pay dividends.”
The win has now set up a mouth-watering clash this weekend against fourth placed side Warrnambool (6-4) with the pair meeting for the second time this season.
Terang Mortlake prevailed in the round two encounter, although Arundell pointed out Warrnambool was missing key playmaker Amy Wormald on that occasion.
The Bloods mentor believes the Blues will be strengthened by the presence of Wormald on the court this Saturday, adding she was wary of her opposition knowing they had been travelling well in recent weeks.
“It seems they have come a long way from last season and they may have made a slow start but are starting to come along well at the right time of the season,” she said.
“We’re expecting it to be a completely different challenge.”