Sport
28 July, 2022
Pies prepare to weather tough match with the Storm
Maryborough faces a big challenge this week when second-placed Strathfieldsaye rolls into town on Saturday, as the Bendigo Football Netball League gets into the final month of the home-and-away season. The Magpies come into this game having lost by...
Maryborough faces a big challenge this week when second-placed Strathfieldsaye rolls into town on Saturday, as the Bendigo Football Netball League gets into the final month of the home-and-away season.
The Magpies come into this game having lost by 84 points last week, but will have been relatively pleased with their first three quarters which saw them trail by 59 points at three-quarter-time, before six final quarter goals saw the Hawks blow out the eventual winning margin.
There were some good positives to take out of the game, however. For example, the Magpies were able to win the contested ball by 67, so their attack at the ball was not a problem, and they also won the clearances by three.
It’s the uncontested ball that needs to be cleaned up by the Magpies, remaining a work in progress. They lost that statistic by 93 on the weekend, resulting in the Hawks taking 100 uncontested marks and moving the ball with some relative ease.
Pleasing performers on the weekend included Aiden Hare, who collected 50 disposals, 12 clearances and two goals — doing all he could for the Magpies cause — as well as Liam Latch, who almost mirrored Hare’s statline with 49 disposals, 10 clearances, 10 inside 50s and a goal.
The challenge for the Magpies this week is to emulate their recently improved performances against a Strathfieldsaye team that would be smarting after a 58-point defeat to top side Gisborne last week.
When these two sides met in round six, it was all one-way traffic at Tannery Lane as the Storm were able to pile on 12 goals in the third quarter, before adding nine more in the last to score a 208-point victory.
On that occasion, Hare, Kya Lanfranchi, Patrick Chard, Lachlan Hull, Thomas Gardam and Latch were the best players, while Damon Lewis was the Magpies’ sole goalscorer.
This weekend represents the final time the Magpies will face an opponent in the top three for the season, with their remaining games to come after this one coming against all three sides fighting for a berth in the top four, in Sandhurst, South Bendigo and Kyneton.
Elsewhere in the football department, the under 18s have an exciting opportunity to all but seal a finals appearance this week if they can find success against the fourth-placed Storm.
A good result could leave Brady Neill’s men as many as three games ahead of sixth-placed Kangaroo Flat with three games to go.