General News
22 July, 2019
Magpies gallant in defeat
CAMPERDOWN got itself into a winning position but could not get the result it wanted in its Hampden league football clash with North Warrnambool on Saturday.
CAMPERDOWN got itself into a winning position but could not get the result it wanted in its Hampden league football clash with North Warrnambool on Saturday.
The Magpies produced one of their best performances of the season to push the ladder leading Eagles to the brink of defeat in the 12.12 (84) to 10.9 (69) loss.
Co-coach Neville Swayn said the result was very disappointing but admitted he could not be prouder of his players’ efforts.
“For what we had planned during the week, the boys executed it well but to be in a winning position against the top side and not go on with it was really disappointing,” he said.
“But on the flip side, Jack and I are really proud of the effort the boys put out across the four quarters, it was just a few execution points that let us down.”
The opening quarter saw both sides trade goals at Bushfield, with the Magpies taking a seven point lead into quarter time.
The Eagles then responded by kicking three unanswered goals in the second term to move 12 points ahead before the Magpies again returned to the lead in the third quarter.
They kicked three goals to the Eagles’ one to hold a one point advantage at the final change before Camperdown kicked the opening two goals of the last quarter to push 13 points ahead.
They controlled the game despite the Eagles constantly threatening to score and with 15 minutes to go, the Magpies still remained 11 points ahead before the Eagles’ continual forward advances were finally rewarded.
They kicked a goal to bring the margin back to five points before simple errors while in control of the contest in the last 10 minutes cost the Magpies, coughing up three late majors to fall by 15 points.
“It was just a turnover or two late that resulted in a goal that you can’t afford to do against the top sides,” Swayn said.
Despite the disappointment, Swayn said he could find plenty of positives from the performance.
He was pleased his side was able to put together a consistent effort for the first time in a number of weeks.
“For what we planned to do during the week and to then maintain it for four quarters was the biggest positive,” he said.
“Where we have had lapses in probably the last month, we’ve been working hard to fix that, but I thought on Saturday it was definitely a lot better.”
Luke Mahony was named the Magpies’ best following a strong performance in the midfield, while Jason Robinson, Matt Field, Luke O’Neil, Riley Arnold and Will Lord also performed well.
The loss has put the Magpies 12 points outside the top five in seventh with five games to play ahead of another big clash with Port Fairy at Mahony’s Transport Leura Oval this Saturday.
Swayn said his side was poor in its early season clash against the Seagulls at Port Fairy but had since been tracking positively ahead of the contest.
“Without getting the wins on the board, we feel we are taking steps forward so we’ll be giving ourselves every chance to get a result this week,” he said.
Meanwhile, the reserves fell to their fifth loss of the season, going down to the Eagles 12.17 (89) to 3.4 (22).
Isaac Stephens was named best afield for the side, while Wayne Loader, Chris Dendle, Dave Young, Byron Loader and Devon Coates were also prominent.
The loss kept the side fifth on the ladder, 12 points clear of Warrnambool.
And the under 18.5s won their fifth successive match, beating the Eagles 15.4 (94) to 7.7 (49).
Hamish Sinnott (three goals) and Zach Sinnott (four) both performed strongly, while Sid Bradshaw, Hayden Brett, Toby Kent and Luke Bone were also standouts in the victory.
The side remains second on the ladder.