APART from a Nick Cottrell-inspired Wentworth burst that reaped five straight goals in the second quarter, Irymple held sway for the greater part of an entertaining clash at George Gordon Oval on Saturday to run out comfortable 33-point victors.
Ice packs aplenty post-game pointed to a taxing affair with the COVID-19 induced layoff and uncharacteristic soft conditions contributing to our local version of the MND Big Freeze. Wentworth was hardest hit on the injury front, down to just one available interchange player for the final quarter. Aaron Duck, Kaine Behr and Cambell Davison all succumbing to injuries that would see them play no further part in the game and be in doubt over the next few weeks.
The game started as a skill contest with limited stoppages and attractive open play. This style of the game allows forwards to thrive and key Irymple targets Jason Eagle and Nick Pezzaniti both finished the opening stanza with two goals, which contributed to a four-goal quarter-time lead.
Irymple will cut teams up if the game becomes a battle of skill and with the scoreboard showing Irymple a further three goals ahead midway through the second quarter, you could be forgiven for thinking that little had changed. Although the Swallows had stretched their margin, the narrative of the game had changed. Wentworth were able to close the open space by cutting off Irymple’s run through the corridor, caused a lot more stoppages, made the Swallows play a slow possession retention game and generally made it more of a physical contest.
On the back of this appetite to compete – and some Cottrell brilliance, Wentworth were able to bring the game and the crowd to life with a five-goal burst. Twice Cottrell took towering marks in the goal square and duly converted while Jordan McKinnon was prominent – also converting two opportunistic chances to goals. Wade Hancock worked into the game and Cambell Davison, before his injury, provided some grunt around the ball. This period of dominance reduced the margin to just two goals at the main break.
Set the challenge, Irymple were now tasked to respond. Implored to bring more effort and to work on the 1 percenters at half-time, the Swallows duly responded. Dan Coghlan, who had already been prominent, lifted to another level in converting two long-range goals, one being a nice set-play snap. Eagle made the most of his opportunities, kicking two more goals in the quarter and Mitch Roads continued his good form at half-forward. Roads’ battle with Andrew Wall was intriguing. Given that Wall, while serviceable, was not at his influential best across half-back and that Roads was able to hit the scoreboard, including a smart banana snap from the boundary, meant the Irymple youngster had the better of this battle.
Despite kicking to the scoring end for the last term, with a six-goal deficit and a team down on available troops, it was hard seeing Wentworth rallying again. They did battle on manfully and marginally won the last quarter, but Irymple proved too strong over the journey.
Post-game, Wentworth coach Hancock reflected on a lot of positives. The goal spree in the second quarter proved that their best is good enough and was proud of how his team fought the game out despite a heavy injury toll, but lamented that skill errors and an ability to play out four quarters cost them.
Irymple co-coach Nick Mee was content that his team had the better of the opposition for three and half quarters and was pleased that after the 10-minute second-quarter lapse, his team were able to “get their confidence back” and regain some momentum. Mee also said all in all “it was a good team effort”. Breakout box (with club logos)
Irymple 18.5 (113)
Wentworth 12.8 (80)
Goals: Irymple: D. Coghlan 5, J. Eagle 5, M. Roads 2, N. Pezzaniti 2, B. Phipps, C. Mensch, J. Healy, J. Tulloch.
Wentworth: N. Cottrell 4, W. Hancock 3, J. McKinnon 3, D. Tually, L. Eggmolesse.
Best: D. Coghlan, M. Roads, B. Jackson, P. Power, M. Christensen, C. Mensch.
Wentworth: N. Cottrell, W. Hancock, J. McKinnon, J. Nunan, N. Jensen, L. Murdoch.
Three things we learnt
Don’t back into a Wall: Mitch Roads is fast becoming an instrumental player and one suspects that as he gets stronger physically, he will become a very formidable key forward. A few extra pre-seasons add size and Mitch felt the full brunt of what an extra few kilos can do when he bravely drifted into a hole in an attempt to mark only to be crunched in a fair physical spoil by opponent Andrew Wall.
To Tag or not to tag? There is much debate about the use of taggers in the AFL. This ultra-defensive role takes discipline and a lot of self-sacrifices. Should taggers be used in country footy? I’m not so sure because it is hard enough to find one good enough at the top level. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching the better players ply their trade, however, at the very least, teams probably should look to put a lot more defensive time into the better on-ballers of the competition if they want to help their team’s cause.
Dark to light: Within minutes, I thought it, someone in the crowd said it and the Wentworth officials agreed. Midway through the third quarter, it became dark. There was never any threat of rain but throughout the entire game it was very overcast, and it came to the point where it was obvious that a bit of artificial light might help brighten the conditions.
