Sport
18 August, 2022
Magpies look to finish strong
It’s the final game of the 2022 season for the Maryborough Football Netball Club senior team, and therefore, the final chance for the Magpies to grab their first victory of the season when they travel to Kyneton on Saturday afternoon...
It’s the final game of the 2022 season for the Maryborough Football Netball Club senior team, and therefore, the final chance for the Magpies to grab their first victory of the season when they travel to Kyneton on Saturday afternoon.
A much-awaited victory would be of great reward to a Magpies team who, despite going winless up to this point of the season, has steadily improved against most of their peers in the Bendigo Football Netball League (BFNL).
It’s also a chance for the Magpies to have a final say on the outlook of the finals race, with Kyneton needing a win — and plenty of luck — in order to participate in the BFNL finals series.
However, the Magpies also do feel they took a slight step backwards last week against South Bendigo.
That game saw the Magpies lower their colours to the Bloods by 115 points in their final home game of the season, despite plenty of emotion from captain Coby Perry making his 100th appearance for the club. Despite starting reasonably well, 14 goals to one in the middle two quarters of the game cost the Magpies any chance of putting in a competitive performance on Saturday.
However, as should be the case, there should also be a focus on some positives from the game in order to move forward.
Aidan Hare was a genuine standout on Saturday afternoon, collecting 47 disposals, laying 15 tackles, generating 14 clearances and five inside 50s. The young star truly stuffed the stat sheet. Liam Latch also had a field day, collecting 41 disposals, six inside 50s and five clearances, while Perry was at his inspirational best, with 32 disposals and six clearances.
Maryborough will be looking to generate better scoring opportunities this week. While the clearance situation was fairly even, with South Bendigo winning that statistic by one, they were able to generate 34 more inside 50s than the Magpies.
Their game against the Tigers this weekend could provide them with their opportunity to achieve their goals — last time out against Kyneton in round nine at Princes Park, Maryborough were able to win the inside 50 count and generated 18 scoring shots. However, they were only able to kick five goals — all of them coming in the second half.
The Magpies will also look to ensure they don’t repeat their slow start against the Tigers from their round nine clash, which saw them concede 11 unanswered first half goals, before eventually losing by 75 points.
From that encounter, Perry, Hare, Liam Murphy, Jayden Hooper, Lucas Hurse and Jake Postle were all named in the best players, while multiple young players got on the scoreboard, including Tom Myers, Hurse, Kaian Constable and Jai Howell.