Sport
24 August, 2022
Power makes finals surge
KOLORA-Noorat Power will look to keep its season alive following defeat to Panmure in round one of the finals.
KOLORA-Noorat Power will look to keep its season alive following defeat to Panmure in round one of the finals.
The Bulldogs raced out to a 5.1.31 to 3.3.21 first quarter lead before the Power clawed back in to the game with a strong second quarter, down just three points (7.4.46 to 6.7.43) at the half.
Neither team could separate throughout the third quarter as Panmure held a slim 9.6.60 to 8.7.55 lead over Kolora-Noorat.
The fourth quarter was less forgiving as the Bulldogs pulled away, outscoring the Power 25 to 7 to march home with a score line of 12.13.85 to 9.8.62.
Kolora-Noorat senior coach Nick Bourke said inconsistency had hurt the side, but positives were evident despite the loss.
“It was an interesting game where we were good in patches but they also controlled the game in patches,” he said.
“They certainly did that in the last quarter and ran over the top of us.
“There is certainly a lot we can learn from this and work on this week, but we just could not put together four quarters which is what you need in big games.”
Best players against the Bulldogs were Ryan O’Connor, Luke McConnell, Scott Judd, Jeremy Larcombe, Joel Dillon and Stephen O’Connor.
Lucas Boyd kicked a trio of majors to lead the scoring, followed by Samuel Boyd and Nick Bourke with two.
The Power will seek redemption in round two of the finals, with a clash with Merrivale set for this Sunday at the Allansford Recreation Reserve from 2pm.
“It’s going to be a great game,” Bourke said.
“They’re a quality opposition who play similar to how Panmure plays.
“I think we’ll be on the ball with our defensive set-ups and just look to take the game on, play our way and put it together for four quarters.
“If we can do that, we feel like we’ll give ourselves a chance.”
Kolora-Noorat has split two games with Merrivale this year, winning the first match-up in round five 11.7.73 to 8.10.58 before falling 13.11.89 to 7.5.47 in round 14.
“I felt like we learned a lot last time we played them,” Bourke said.
“We were disappointed with our performance last time and they certainly played their home ground really well, but we took a lot away from that and we’ll look to use that this week when we come up against them again.”
Bourke said the side will be at near full strength minus Tyler Beasley missing due to an injury sustained last week, but will be looking to a junior (name withheld as he has yet to be informed of the decision) to fill the role.
“We’re pretty well full strength, which is great going in to the final series, we just need to put it all together now,” Bourke said.
