It was very much a case of close, but no cigar for the Knights against the finals bound Geelong Falcons on Sunday. Despite the great disparity between the two teams on the ladder the Knights put up a strong showing considering their long injury list.
In a tight struggle on a slippery Skilled Stadium the Falcons found themselves up by 12 points at the final siren. To illustrate the tightness of the contest this was also the greatest lead of the day.
The opening term was a sign of things to come, with neither team willing to give an inch. As a result the Falcons managed the only goal in the high pressure quarter.
Diminutive Anton Woods got the Knights on the board in the second term after a strong overhead mark. When Tom Hill quickly added another the Knights had their first lead of the game. The sides were trading goals in pairs as Geelong kicked two in a row before the Knights closed the term with goals through Sean Calcedo and first gamer Josh Stavely to hold a four point lead at the main break.
While the pressure remained high in the third term the scoring opened up a bit with the Falcons edging the Knights five goals to four. Michael Still added two goals for the Knights after taking a couple of strong contested grabs, while Calcedo and Woods added to their tally.
Ultimately the high intensity took its toll on their Knights and while the team was able to keep the Falcons at close range throughout the final term there were plenty of tired bodies out there. Any chance of a late comeback was made all the more difficult by a heavy downpour of rain that finally arrived in the last quarter after threatening to do so all day.
Michael Hurley was a welcome return for the Knights having completed his Vic Metro duties and was named best on ground for the side after dominating in defence with a remarkable 32 kicks and 17 Rebound 50's. Hamish Paynter and Anton Woods were, once again, in the thick of the action in the middle of the ground. First gamer Josh Stavely was very impressive on debut with his ferocious tackling and ball winning ability.
While ruing another four points gone missing Coach Paul Satterley was pleased with the continual development that his squad has been showing, particularly with so many players missing this week.
“We had 16 first year players in the side today and 19 unavailable, so it was 1) about opportunity and 2) just about making that opportunity stick.
“We still turned the footy over a bit by hand and foot, so that’s something we’ve got to keep working on. But overall they (Geelong) had a little bit more polish in the end. We were found flat on our feet by the end of the game purely as a result of the super hard work we’d done throughout the first three quarters.”
Geelong Falcons 10.13.73 def. Northern Knights 9.7.63
Goals: Woods 2, S.Calcedo 2, Still 2, Power, Hill, Stavely
Best: Hurley, Paynter, Woods, Stavely, Simcoe, Ricco
Last Modified on 21/07/2008 14:52