By David Nagel
Inverloch-Kongwak is an organised and defensive beast that is going to be awfully hard to stop as it chases its first senior premiership since the inaugural season of the WGFNC in 2017.
That’s the major takeaway to come from a relentless effort from the Sea Eagles, who suffocated one of their major threats this season with a 10.7.67 to 4.8.32 victory over reigning-champion Tooradin-Dalmore.
The Seagulls can console themselves with the fact that they scored 32 points on their home deck on Saturday…higher than the 31.4 points average that the Sea Eagles have conceded this year.
Of course, that’s said tongue in cheek because just like 10 teams before them the Seagulls had no answer to Inverloch’s ‘full-court’ defensive pressure.
They just pushed and pushed and pushed…driving the home team back until the Seagulls finally cracked just prior to half time!
Inverloch – now with an 11-0 record – clearly had the better of the early exchanges and opened its account when defender Jarvis Pryor found Toby Mahoney in space on the ‘fat’ side of the ground.
The visiting midfield was right on top, with Ethan Park, Andy Soumilas and Oscar Toussaint getting good supply from Marcus Toussaint in the ruck.
And when the ball did go forward the Sea Eagles protected the exits and switch out of defence with intent.
It took six minutes for the Seagulls to have a forward-50 entry…which ended out of bounds on the full in front of the social club.
Tim Lenders answered, kicking truly from a free kick after 22 minutes of play, before the Sea Eagles finally got some reward for their midfield ascendency.
Mahoney kicked his second, after out-bustling Jordy Kelly at the top of the goal-square, before coach Tom Hams nailed a ripper from long range at the 28-minute mark of the first.
It was classic play from the Sea Eagles, with Soumilas extracting from stoppage, with the ball travelling quickly to Hams…who celebrated with a pumped fist after kicking from 50 out.
Hams and his team deserved their 3.2.20 to 1.0.6 advantage at quarter time.
The Seagulls would bounce back quickly at the start of the second term, with Brad Butler producing a piece of magic from the ‘cricket net’ forward pocket.
But it would be the only highlight of the quarter for the Gulls, with Inverloch putting its stamp on the game with a ruthless attack…at both the footy and the ball carrier.
Inverloch’s half-back line was dominant, with Tate Short, Lewis Rankin and Hams protecting a Michael Eales, Kairon Dorling and Pryor-led last line of defence.
Pryor kept Ryan Gillis goalless a week earlier against Cora Lynn, and repeated the dose with another ‘shut-down role’ on Stewart Scanlon on Saturday.
If the number-14 saddles up beside you this year…it’s going to be awfully hard to get a kick!
The Sea Eagles kicked clear nine minutes into the second term, with Mahoney slotting a beautiful kick into the teeth of the breeze, before Nick Baltas underlined his class with a freakish right-foot snap just two minutes later.
The next 15 minutes was an arm-wrestle, as the home-side identified the danger and lifted its intensity.
The pressure finally told on Tooradin at the 26-minute mark of the second term, when a sloppy turnover at half back resulted directly in a Will Turner six-pointer from mid-range.
The large travelling crowd erupted…clear in the knowledge that the four premiership points had virtually been tucked away.
Turner’s goal gave the Sea Eagles a 25-poiunt advantage at half time.
The third quarter started brightly, with Callan O’Flynn extending the margin to 31, before Andrew Proctor provided a quick answer.
The Sea Eagles then suffered their only disappointment for the day, with Mahoney appearing to suffer a serious right-hamstring injury…stopping as if shot at the six-minute mark of the third.
That happened two minutes prior to a thunderous downpour at Tooradin, with the crowd running for cover as the rain and wind became intense.
Hams then ended any hope for the home-side, kicking his second, before Park timed his interchange routine to perfection, finding himself unguarded inside 50, extending the margin to 37 points at the final change.
Lachlan Scott and Matt Livermore then exchanged goals in the final term as the fizz came out of the contest.
IK assistant-coach Leigh Cole was thrilled with the team’s performance against high-class opposition.
“The ladder says they’ve dropped one game and we’re ahead of them, but you can put that down to one bad quarter they had against Phillip Island,” Cole explained post-game.
“They could easily have been 10 from 10 and undefeated as well.
“It was a huge challenge for us and we still see them as the benchmark.
“It was good to get out here and test ourselves against the best.”
Cole said it was a focus heading into the game to shut down Tooradin’s sharp ball movement by foot.
“If you watch enough of their games, they like to control the ball by foot, so it’s about keeping the game in fast play, so there’s a bit of chaos around it,” he said.
“They’ve obviously got some good individual players, but as a collective they’re pretty strong across the board.
“We targeted a couple of different areas; we try and take one or two things away from the opposition every week, and I thought we did that well as the game progressed today.”
Cole agreed that the Sea Eagles defensive record was impressive, but said that was born from a desire to control the footy themselves.
“Our focus is mainly on what we’re doing when we have the footy,” he said.
“Obviously defence is an important part of our game, but it’s not something we emphasise more than when we’ve got the footy in our hands.
“One thing with defending is, if you’ve got the ball in your hands the opposition can’t score.
“There have been times when we’ve been pretty dominant during games this year, we’ve had a lot of the football, which makes it pretty hard for the opposition to score.”
Cole, who coached Korumburra-Bena last year, said there was still a lot of improvement to come…despite the 11-0 record.
“We’ve been able to keep the players pretty focussed, we’ve thrown a lot at them this year, in terms of new challenges and tackling different parts of our game plan,” he said.
“But they keep turning up and their focus is ‘what’s new, what are we doing next’.
“They’re all keen to learn and keep improving as well.
“Nobody has let their mind drift too far ahead…we’re in the now, and in the moment, and we’ll start planning for two weeks’ time against Warragul at Warragul now.”
Tooradin is now under the pump, with its upcoming visit to Phillip Island – on July 8 – likely to decide who ends up with the coveted double-chance come late August into early September this year.
That game is so important to the premiership prospects of both clubs.
Experienced book-ends Julian Suarez (ankle ligaments) and Adam Galea (hamstring) will still be missing for that clash, which means the Seagulls will need to regenerate with something from within.
They’ve had their wake-up call now…let’s see how premiership coach Lachie Gillespie and his team respond.
Defenders Cooper Shipp, Trent Adams and Brad Lenders will take some good form into that clash, while Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds put in a solid performance through the midfield.
Both teams will now enjoy a week’s rest, courtesy of a league-wide mid-season bye.
TOORADIN-DALMORE 1.0 2.2 3.6 4.8(32)
INVERLOCH KONGWAK 3.2 6.3 9.7 10.7(67)
Tooradin-Dalmore Goals: Brad Butler 2, Timothy Lenders, Matthew Livermore. Best: Cooper Shipp, Trent Adams, Brad Lenders, Lewis Hill, Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds, Brad Butler.
Inverloch-Kongwak Goals: Toby Mahoney 3, Tom Hams 2, Nicholas Baltas, Callan O’Flynn, Ethan Park, Lachlan Scott, William Turner. Best: Ethan Park, Thomas Wyatt, Oscar Toussaint, Marcus Toussaint, Nicholas Baltas, Tate Short.
