Anglesea rallies but Modda prevails

MODEWARRE held off a fast-finishing Anglesea on Saturday in a “twitchy” final term to claim its first win of the season.

When Hasker Dawborn (two goals) and Craig Evans goaled to start the final term, their side’s buffer was a comfortable 32 points.

Yet Anglesea didn’t give in, remarkably getting to within eight points deep into the quarter before the Warriors did enough to hold on by 14 points.

“I thought we had our moments last week, but Barwon Heads were probably always a bit in front of us, so for us it was all about simplifying things,” co-coach John Meesen said.

“A lot of people can say things and you can lose confidence after one loss, but we were happy with the output of most of our players and we knew if we brought the same level of effort and intensity we’d be in the game, so to get the win is good for the guys.”

Pushed in an end-to-end final term where Anglesea slammed on four of the last five goals of the match, it was busy Warriors forward Jesse Douglas who sealed the result in red time, kicking his fourth major in an impressive showing.

Meesen was proud of how his side stood up without Matt Farrelly (rolled ankle) and Josh Hamilton (concussion) for most of the final term.

“We were down a couple on the bench and some boys were on the field that otherwise would’ve been off, but we’ve got good character in the group,” Meesen said.

“We knew we had to continue to hunt the ball and defend strongly.

“They’re a good side and they were always going to come — they’ve got (Jordan) Erskine (five goals) who they kick it to 30 times a game and it can result in six or seven goals. For us it was a bit twitchy, but to still run away with the win was good.”

Meesen doesn’t believe Farrelly’s ankle injury is too serious, however Hamilton will be monitored after going back with the flight and being collected strongly by an oncoming Erskine. Mitch Fisher was also a late withdrawal, however is likely to return for the upcoming clash with Torquay on Good Friday.

“It gave us the chance to swing things around as well — Scott Driscoll (one goal) went forward, (and) Jackson Paatsch came into the wing after playing Falcons last week too,” Meesen said.