Advertisment

Sport

20 April, 2023

Pies look to bounce back

After a devastating round one defeat, Maryborough will look to pick up the pieces tomorrow when they travel to Canterbury Park to play Eaglehawk. The Magpies were so close last week to breaking their drought against Castlemaine, which had stretched...

By Michael Thompson

Luke Bucknall lays a tackle against Castlemaine last weekend. Photo: 210423 12
Luke Bucknall lays a tackle against Castlemaine last weekend. Photo: 210423 12

After a devastating round one defeat, Maryborough will look to pick up the pieces tomorrow when they travel to Canterbury Park to play Eaglehawk.

The Magpies were so close last week to breaking their drought against Castlemaine, which had stretched back to the start of 2021, when they sat 11 points in front at three-quarter-time last week.

But Castlemaine lifted in the last quarter, starting to win the key one-on-one battles in the coalface and took charge with good ball use, yielding three goals in the last quarter to run over the top of the Magpies to record an 11-point win.

The defeat left the playing group shattered, but there were still some good positives to take out of the game.

Despite the atrocious conditions at play, Taj Bond made his debut and the young tall forward presented quite well, eventually getting named in the best.

Joel Swatton, the Magpies’ big-name recruit from South Bendigo, also acquitted himself well, and provided a highlight when he spun out of a contest and delivered a long ball to Chris Freeman, who scored their first goal of the afternoon.

There were also good performances from Ty Stewart, Brady Neill, Luke Bucknall and Kya Lanfranchi, while Stewart, Freeman and Jake Postle were the goalscorers for the afternoon.

The challenge for the Magpies now is to go with Eaglehawk on Saturday, who survived a baptism of fire at the revamped Harry Trott Oval last week to defeat South Bendigo by 10 points.

There are multiple players to be wary of for the Magpies, which include captain Billy Evans, who put in a best-on-ground performance last week, while ex-St Kilda player Jarryn Geary will also be one to watch.

In the two teams’ last meeting, Eaglehawk proved too strong as they ended up winning by 84 points.

Five goals to two in the first quarter set them on their way, but Maryborough were proving to be competitive. At half time, the Magpies were 37 points down and looking to run out the game well.

But a further four goals to one in the third quarter, and six goals to two in the last, ensured that Eaglehawk would win every quarter in their win.

Better players for Maryborough on that occasion were Thomas Gardam, Aidan Hare, Liam Latch, Coby Perry, Liam Murphy and Neill, with Neill and Hare kicking two goals apiece.

You can purchase photos on our photo purchase page. Use the reference code:
Advertisment

Most Popular