By Paul Pickering
BETTER, but still not good enough.
That was the message from Gippsland Power coach Damian Carroll after his side’s eight-point loss to Sandringham at Dandenong’s Shepley Oval.
The Power, humbled by the Stingrays in round one, claimed some degree of respect back against the Dragons, but Carroll was far from content.
Gippsland let a four-point three-quarter time lead slip, running out of legs and intensity in the final term against last season’s wooden-spooners.
“There was some improvement there,” Carroll said.
“It’s hard to compare (with the previous match), because, without disrespecting Sandy, I don’t think they’re the same calibre of team as the Stingrays.
“But I think we played a bit better style of football, we didn’t overuse it as much as we did the previous week and we had a bit more pressure around the ball.”
The Power jumped out to a three-goal lead with the advantage of a handy breeze in the first quarter, but a lapse in concentration either side of the break allowed the Dragons erase the deficit.
And the Dragons simply wanted the footy more in the last term, dominating the stoppages and reaping the rewards up forward with a four-goal-to-two return.
Carroll, who put the acid on his top-age players during the week, said he was satisfied with the way that most responded.
Lachlan Todd led the way in another dogged performance at centre half-back, while skipper Dyson Heppell, vice-captain Tim Northe and hard-nosed midfielder Dale Hoghton led by example.
Second-gamers Clay Smith, Luke Tynan and Shaun Wyatt impressed again.
The support just wasn’t there from below.
“There probably wasn’t a four-quarter player, so we need to make sure our guys are a bit more even across the day,” Carroll said.
“And we did rely on our top dozen players. I think our bottom dozen players had 10 or less possessions, and it’s pretty hard to get over the line when that’s the case.”
Sandringham’s Daniel Farmer proved to be the match-winner, booting for goals in a dominant performance.
Carroll is now hoping that the Power boys can lift their work rate again for Saturday’s clash with a formidable Geelong outfit at Bendigo.
“The focus is on pressure and maintaining it for four quarters,” he said.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re up and about and running hard, because they’re a good running side.”
That game will begin at 10am at Queen Elizabeth Oval.
Right:
First-gamer Simon Deery launches Gippsland into attack during its loss to Sandringham on Saturday. 45305
Picture: Bella Yann
