By Nick Creely
SOUTH EAST FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
REVIEW – ROUND 2
It was wet weather footy, a hard slog between Officer and Tooradin-Dalmore, clubs desperate to continue on with their winning form.
But Officer was always one step ahead.
Doug Koop’s side have found a ruthless edge to their football, and if the first two rounds are anything to go by, they will be up to their eyeballs in the race to break a finals drought that dates back to 2004.
It appeared the Gulls had settled quicker, and as the rain poured down they handled the slippery conditions well.
Until the Kangaroos clicked into gear.
A brilliant contested mark from Matthew Clarke was duly slotted in the fourth minute, before Jesse Longmuir made the Gulls pay for a turnover from a kick in.
Kangaroos ruckman Sean Roach was particularly prominent early, especially at ground level, acting like an extra midfielder around the stoppages, while backman James Waldon repelled everything in his path in a brilliant opening quarter where the Gulls peppered their forward 50 in a burst.
A terrific running goal from the impressive Jake Ingaliso after a missed opportunity at the other end was costly, and despite having periods of play where they found the footy, the Gulls were in trouble.
Missed opportunities were quickly counting against them, and it seemed like every time a six point opportunity was squandered, the hunger that the ‘Roos possess in the early stages of 2018 drove the ball quickly the other way.
The Gulls fought back hard in the second term but wayward kicking kept them out of the contest, with the Kangaroos opening up a 40 point half time lead courtesy of more brilliance from Ingaliso and midfield dominance from the likes of Michael Thompson and Chase Smaluch.
However, the only goal of the half from the Gulls came from a brilliant piece of work on the boundary line from Patrick Chin, who dribbled the ball through the goal.
With the Kangaroos fierce at the contest and exciting on the outside, the past players of the club watched on as the revitalised club showed maturity, restricting the Gulls to just 1.7 for the second half, running away 43 point winners in a dour defensive performance led brilliantly by Waldon, who turned heads with an eye catching display.
Another to play a brilliant game was Colac recruit Stephen Heppel, who looks a composed player set for a big year down at Starling Road.
An extremely disappointed Tooradin-Dalmore coach Lachie Gillespie admitted his side failed to match Officer’s intensity, despite some key players missing from the side.
“The boys and the coaches are disappointed with the game, we fell away badly,” he said.
“We had a few blokes out (Adam Galea, Nick Lang, Nathan Goodacre and Dean Warry), while it’s not an excuse, we back our game plan with those guys in – in the end we were lucky to have Kitcho (Ryan Kitchin) cleared on Friday night.
“And adding to that, we had some umpiring decisions go against us that resulted in Officer goals, but that’s a story for another day.”
Gillespie pointed to the second quarter as a key reason as to why his side couldn’t stay in the contest.
“Our second quarter was our downfall, in the breeze I thought we could really do some damage, but we just fell away,” he said.
“I’m happy with the boys’ efforts, but that 15, 20 minute period probably lost us the game, we struggled really badly.”
With the Kangaroos’ extremely impressive start to the season gaining the attention of opposition clubs, Gillespie admitted his side needs to get back on the horse ahead of an Anzac Day showdown against Cranbourne.
“We need to improve internally, we’ll move on pretty quick, and hopefully get some of our players back next week,” he said.
OFFICER 10.8(68)
TOORADIN-DALMORE 2.13(25)
