Bloods win in nail biter
By Paula Hopson It was perfect football conditions for the round eight clash between the middle of the league teams Morwell East and Trafalgar, and the Morwell East boys came out sporting pink socks in support of breast cancer.
It was another nail biting match up for the Hawks with their third closely fought game out of the last four going down to the wire.
But, once again, the Hawks failed to secure the points to gain the victory.
Both teams were pretty evenly matched up throughout the game but it was the mighty Bloods that came out on top at the end of the fourth quarter with only one point in it, scores at the final whistle Trafalgar 11-8 (74) to Morwell East 11-7 (73).
Trafalgar came out fighting in the first few minutes of the first quarter, scoring the first couple of goals. Morwell East then had some chances but failed to convert.
Although the scores at the end of the first quarter put Trafalgar out in front with a nine-point lead, the game had been evenly matched by both teams with both sides having similar opportunities at the goal posts.
Trafalgar managed to convert all of their chances scoring four goals and if Morwell East had managed to convert their opportunities they could have been in the lead. Scores at the end of the first quarter Morwell East 2-3 (15) Trafalgar 4-0 (24).
Some good defending in the second quarter by Morwell East, particularly by Lockie White, and goals from Shaun Barnes and Ben Marks, who was playing his first senior game for some time, brought the scores even after 12 minutes into the quarter 4-3 (27).
Matthew Van Schajiik was moving the ball forward and getting into the goal area, giving Trafalgar five chances at goal but they failed to convert and could not find the centre posts.
Paul Henry scored goal number five for Morwell East at the blow of the whistle, putting the home team in front for the first time in the game. Morwell East 5-3 (33), Trafalgar 4-5 (29).
Morwell East came out with purpose with Lucas Towns scoring the first goal in the third quarter trying to stretch out the Hawk’s lead.
Trafalgar were having none of that, winning the tap out of the centre and quickly responding with a goal by Jace Butler.
The Bloods started getting some great clearances from the centre from ruckman Brendan Dawson and moving quickly forward to score their sixth putting them one point ahead.
Lucas Towns for the Tigers quickly responded with a shot from 50 metres edging Morwell East back in front.
Trafalgar then seemed to take it up a notch following up with two quick goals to extend their lead.
Passions started running high and the umpires failed to get it quickly under control resulting in a red card for Trafalgar’s Tyson Leys for a punch to Lucas Towns.
A penalty closed the gap for Morwell to a point behind at the end of the third quarter. Morwell East 8-5 (53) to Trafalgar 8-6 (54).
The thrills did not stop in the fourth quarter with each team applying the pressure and having the same opportunities on goal.
One team scoring at one end and then the other team coming back straight away to even up.
Each team scored goals in the closing minutes of the game and despite the determination of the Hawks, Trafalgar pulled off the win by a mere one point.
Trafalgar coach Clint Einsiedel was thrilled that his boys managed to gain the victory.
“As the day wore on we showed a lot of resilience, we had to cope with a fair bit,” he said.
“Towards the end of the game we had a couple of guys that couldn’t come back on and a guy off for 15 minutes, but when you’re hit with a bit of adversity you just have to dig deep and find something, which is what the boys did. “This win gets us back in the mix. “Morwell East are a very good side and want to be part of the finals action but this win gives us a bit of a buffer a couple games ahead of them heading into the half way mark.
“What we’ll get out of today is that the boys showed enormous resilience under pressure and were able to find a way.”
Morwell East coach Colin King, had some harsh words for this players at the end of another crushing defeat.
“We are absolutely gutted by the result,” he said.
“We lack footy smarts and turning the ball over and it’s just not good enough.
“They were one man short in the last quarter and we should have taken advantage of that and we didn’t.
“We need to improve our smarts and our skills or we’re just going nowhere.
“The effort is there but you need more than effort to be successful.”