St Arnaud v Birchip-Watchem
FOR most of the first half St Arnaud looked like it was primed to register a first win of the season against Birchip-Watchem but a drastic fade-out left the side well short.
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The game at Birchip ended with the Bulls winning 20.14 (134) to 4.7 (31). Saints coach Jason De Graaf could not explain the loss.
“It was a combination of many things – poor skill, fitness – it certainly wasn’t one thing,” he said. “If it was one area we could fix it but it’s happening every week.”
After a tight first quarter the Bulls had seven-point lead after jumping out of the gates stronger.
Scoring was difficult in the second quarter for both sides but after goals at the five and 20 minute mark St Arnaud hit the front.
Two late goals in the final five minutes of the second half saw the Bulls steal the lead back and from that point on the side carried all the momentum forward.
The home side kicked six unanswered goals in the third quarter and a further eight-unanswered goals in the final quarter.
The Saints could only manage one point in the final half. “We can look at the first half and see that we matched the side as usual,” DeGraaf said. “But then we got overrun again. We can’t keep using the youth as an excuse but the facts are that they are going to tire and its harder for them to play four quarters.”
He said the side would move forward quickly. “Hopefully we learn from it,” he said. “There was still positive to take out of the game. We match-up well, we’ve got good people in the right positions and the endeavour is good. If we keep doing all that we will improve.”
In the first five round the Saints have played all of the top-four sides and is now the only team without a win.
“We’ve been playing seasoned bodies who have played more than 100-games of footy so we can’t withstand the pressure of that,” he said.
“The next couple of weeks will give us a better chance to see just where we are at against teams in similar positions to us.”
Donald v Wycheproof-Narraport
DONALD could not match the benchmark team in the North Central Football League on Saturday.
Wycheproof-Narraport showed why it is a front-runner for the flag with a big 21.12 (138) to 6.15 (51).
The Royal Blues failed to capitalise in front of goals and the side was out of the game when it trailed by 62-points at half time.
