Gallant West leads Leopold to victory
THE value of Saturday’s win over Colac may be more than just the four points for Leopold.
Lions coach Guy Morphet believes the come-frombehind 38-point win can instil even more belief into a squad expected to be a finals contender.
Leopold had its back against the wall when down by as much as six goals during the second quarter, but dug deep after half-time to run away to a memorable win on the road.
“It was a match of two halves a little bit. The first quarter they blew us away a little bit,” Morphet said after the 18.17 (125) to 13.9 (87) win.
“We weren’t really winning the football much in the midfield. Once we rallied our troops at half-time and we identified the areas we needed to clean up on, we kicked away from them. It was a really good result.
“(It) was going to be a challenge to see where we were at. I’m really, really positive with a win ... it’s not sent a message to the league, but it’s given our group a bit of inner belief with where we are heading.
“They worked hard and they deserve what they get.”
Morphet admitted he was close to tweaking his team structure as Colac threatened to take the game away.
But he decided to give it a few minutes. And then it all clicked.
“They got out to a six-goal lead at one stage and we were about to throw somebody behind the ball. Then we just thought we’d give our boys another three or four minutes and they blew it out of the water,” Morphet said.
Marcus Thompson and Sam Scott were huge through the middle of the ground for the Lions, while Brandon Howarth kicked four goals.
Trent West also got the edge over Lochie Veale in the middle of the ground to be one of his team’s best.
“Trent gave us first use all day throughout the stoppage. And it helps when you’ve got a ruckman (like Trent),” Morphet said.
West battled through the final quarter with a tight calf and had ice on it post-game.
Morphet said he might have to look at managing West’s load in coming weeks, given the body of work he had done in the opening four rounds of the season.
“His loads were quite high for the first three quarters and that’s purely because we didn’t have (Jack Berry),” Morphet said.
“He was pretty gallant, Westy. He really doesn’t get much spell. I take my hat off to what he is doing.”
Leopold will be cautious with Mitch Patten, who suffered concussion inside the opening five minutes of Saturday’s match.
The goal sneak didn’t play any part in the game after copping the knock and will be assessed during the week. ST JOSEPH’S was pushed early by Grovedale, but its class shone through in the second half on the way to a 43point win.
The Tigers had plenty of fight, trailing by just 11 points at half-time.
But six goals to one after the main break blew the game open and continued the Joeys’ strong start to the season. A NINE-GOAL final term handed Newtown & Chilwell its first win of the season, easily dispatching Geelong West Giants.
The Eagles ran out 100point winners at West Oval with Jacob Sharp (five goals), Sam Nichols (five goals) and Matthew Boag (four goals) feasting on the Giants. NORTH Shore didn’t have any answers for South Barwon in its 25-point loss at Windsor Park.
The Seagulls could only muster one goal after halftime in a low-scoring contest.
But the damage was really done in the second term, when the Swans kicked four goals to North Shore’s one.