Burst of Power enough

IT TOOK four quarters for Gippsland Power to shrug off an earnest Western Jets at Morwell on Saturday afternoon.
With only three goals separating the two teams at half-time, the home team broke the game open in the third with four goals to two, enough of a lead to hang on to in the final quarter.
Power coach Damian Carroll said that, while it wasn’t pretty football, to get the 28-point win was something to be happy about, considering it wasn’t their best effort.
“Yeah it was a tough day,” he said. “Western were really good with their pressure and tackling around the ball: in the end it was a good grinding win and to get the four points was really good.
“We expected them to come out hard, and we knew we didn’t play at our best but we got the result we wanted. But it’s good before we head into finals for the boys to have a game like that.”
Slippery conditions made it tough for clean skills, which equated to plenty of pack contests, tackling and slow transition football. The first term produced a paltry 1.5 to 1.2 in favour of the Power in tight, defensive football.
“The Jets got numbers back a bit early on and we didn’t have much to kick to,” he said. “But having said that, as the game progressed I felt we were able to get on top through some tough work.”
The Power opened up a 17-point buffer during the second quarter, but it was the premiership term that help set up the gritty win.
Even though the Jets outscored the Power 3.1 to 2.3 in the final quarter, the home side had done enough throughout the game to ensure it wrapped up its eighth win for the season.
“We were just a bit more conscious going forward after half-time,” Carroll said.
“I thought we were great until halfway into the last, then Western kept pushing us and we fell away a bit to their credit.
“We struggled a bit in patches, but got over the line, which was pleasing.”
On a day difficult for players to stand out, Carroll acknowledged Tim Northe and Dale Hoghton as two performers that not only got plenty of the ball but used it with great efficiency.
“But, we also had six or seven players that were great with defensive pressure and their work rates, he said. “ We got the result we wanted so now we look to Murray this week.”
This week’s final round clash against eighth-placed Murray will be played at Casey Fields and if the Power wins, it will sew up sixth spot on the TAC Cup ladder.
“We probably want to win and finish sixth – a win will guarantee that,” Carroll said.
“We are a bit fitter now coming into finals, so we won’t be overworking too much this week, but we are expecting another close game before finals next week.”