THEY may be baby steps, but Gippsland Power is moving forward.
The Power pushed the unbeaten Oakleigh Chargers for the best part of three quarters on Saturday and, despite losing by 21 points, will take some confidence from the result.
Coach Damian Carroll described the performance as his side’s best of the season, with the hosts grabbing an early lead and working feverishly to hold it throughout a hotly contested first half.
They led by three points at the main change and looked a genuine chance to snatch their first win of the season, but lacked the killer instinct to finish the job.
Oakleigh took the lead with two quick goals in the dying moments of the third term and dominated general play in the final stanza, but kicked just 2.7 to Gippsland’s 2.1.
Carroll remains baffled by the Power’s inability to finish off games – they’ve lost four last quarters by a total of 82 points – but he was heartened by the gradual improvement of his troops.
“I thought we were pretty good for over two-and-a-half quarters,” he said.
“We were quite happy with the competitiveness and we certainly thought we took a step forward.
“Some of the things we’ve been working on at training were a lot better. We used the footy quite well, we were better with our body work in one-on-one contests and we were able to take a lot more marks inside 50.”
Gippsland’s 10.8 was also its biggest score of the season, thanks largely to a four-goal haul from live-wire forward Jed Lamb.
But it was an “outstanding” performance from diminutive speedster Tim Northe that caught Carroll’s eye. The 175cm vice-captain finished with two goals, 29 disposals and 11 marks – including two inspirational contested grabs.
Skipper Dyson Heppell (25 disposals) and the reliable Dale Hoghton (27) provided sound support through the middle, Kele Asa Leausa was resolute in defence and Jordan Staley contested well in the ruck.
Patrick Karnezis and Alex Johnson booted four goals apiece for Oakleigh, while Sam Cust had 29 touches and 10 tackles.
The Chargers were, it must be said, drastically undermanned, missing AIS-AFL Academy duo Andrew Gaff and Tom Golds as well as a most of their strong private school contingent.
But Carroll is confident that his inexperienced group is heading in the right direction.
“It was a good effort, and hopefully we can keep pushing and get a win next week if we play the same way,” he said.
Sunday’s clash with the 0-4 Western Jets at Williamstown’s Burbank Oval could be as close as either side gets to a grudge match in 2010.
– Paul Pickering
