After loss to Eastern
THE Geelong Football League was comprehensively dethroned as the No. 1 ranked competition in the state on Saturday.
The representative side went down to Eastern Football League by 42 points in the WorkSafe Community Championship clash at Etihad Stadium, with a seven-goal haul from Eastern’s key forward Leigh Williams steering his side to victory.
The 16.9 (105) to 9.9 (63) defeat marks the first time since 2012 the GFL has not held the top mantle. Despite this, Geelong’s coach Clinton Wells is still bullish about his side and the quality of the competition.
“We still believe that we’re the No. 1 competition in Victoria, but they proved that they were too strong,” Wells said. “They had a better squad, more experienced and very well drilled. It hurts, but we’ve got to regroup with these young guys and take their footy to the next level.”
Wells admitted his side was “chasing tail” all day, only leading briefly twice for the match before the Eastern Football League’s dominance eventually told in the final term, slamming on seven goals in a dominant finish after leading by 12 points at three-quarter time.
On his 28th birthday, Norwood forward Williams was the architect of the victory with his big haul, including three majors inside the opening 16 minutes, while ruckman Liam Wale-Buxton (three goals) had a standout day in the ruck. Eastern league coach Steve Cochrane said his side’s plans were executed perfectly.
“We knew they were a running side who switch and run and use the ball well, so we wanted to make sure they had as little space as possible, and we did that,” he said.
Wells was left to rue the performance of his side and a lack of composure after Brant Haintz remarkably put the GFL in front at the 19-minute mark of the second term.
“When we got that four or five points up at one stage, if we had kicked another one there it would’ve given the young group a lot of confidence,” he said.
“The EFL got a couple of quick ones just before halftime which hurt us. They were too strong in the end.”
With a host of stars missing, Wells said the Geelong side was left too vulnerable, despite the best efforts of best-onground medallist Jack Blood, Tom Ruggles, Zac Morrison and Luke Hillman (two goals).
“All over the ground we were a bit inexperienced and perhaps a little overawed by the big occasion,” he said.