Wentworth all over inaccurate Merbein

WENTWORTH handled the conditions, the pressure and consequently the football far better than Merbein on Saturday, running out 92-point victors at Kenny Park.

The win extended their unbeaten run to 11 games and put a stranglehold on top spot.

Merbein ruckman Matt Rix was dominant early, providing the Merbein onballers with first use of the footy. On the back of this clearance supply and with the aid of a strong breeze, Merbein scored the first two goals of the match, both coming off the boot of forward livewire Anthony Coluccio.

This initial blitz stung Wentworth into action.

Then, led by Cleve Westley and Andy Wall, the Roos’ defence became much more resolute and began winning the ball across half-back, from which numerous forward forays were created.

The league leaders began to run and link up, working the ball into the wind with precision. Coach Wade Hancock finished the good play further afield with three consecutive goals to give the away team the lead.

With three further unanswered goals to close out the quarter, including one by Andy Wall, who had floated down from half-back, Wentworth had a significant quarter-time lead despite kicking into the wind.

While Wentworth was equally dominant with the wind in the second stanza, they weren’t equally efficient. Often confined to the dead wing and content to kick long down the line instead of using the switch and running to space, the Roos’ productivity was stymied somewhat for the quarter.

Regardless of these lost opportunities, Wentworth’s dominance – which included keeping the Magpies goalless for the quarter – meant that they had built an unassailable half-time lead.

The third quarter was a far dourer affair. With the breeze at their backs, Merbein threatened and generally had the better of the quarter. The Magpies limited Wentworth to just one goal but wasted their opportunities up forward, kicking 2.7.

While wasteful, winning the quarter had provided Merbein with some scoreboard respectability.

With winning becoming the habit, Hancock has recently implored his team to remain hungry throughout games and metaphorically keep their foot on the opposition’s throat.

He would be well pleased with the way the last quarter played out.

Wentworth piled on eight goals and kept the home team scoreless. Seven different players registered goals for the Roos in the final term, as they shared the load and spread the love in a performance that had no passengers.

Hancock praised the group for their shared contributions.

“You could put 10 players in the best,” he said. “We have a really even group.

“We are not relying on just a few. We have players everywhere that have bought into the vision and want to do it.”

More generally, Hancock was pleased with the overall output of his team and is excited about the momentum they are building in the back half of the season.

“When they had the breeze, I think we were able to nullify their impact. We probably didn’t have the control we wanted of the ball in the third quarter.

“Other than that, some of our passages of play were good. We were able to string together some good method, good footy.”

Merbein will look at their stats board with lament. For all their reasonable effort and the key performance advantages, they let themselves down most when they had the footy.

Handling errors and turnovers cost them dearly, and the visitors played with sufficient polish to fully capitalise on the Magpies’ mistakes.

Merbein coach Vincent Rodi confirmed as much after the game.

“We’re disappointed with the result,” he said. “I don’t think the scoreboard actually reflected how the game went.

“Statistically, we did all right. Our errors made us look silly at times. With our turnovers, they really hurt us.

“Where we went wrong was our skill execution. Theirs was on; ours wasn’t.”