GEELONG Falcons produced their best quarter of football in several weeks but were ultimately outclassed by the Eastern Ranges in a 40-point defeat at Box Hill City Oval on Sunday.
The Falcons trailed by 22 points at the main break and hit back during the third term before the home side took full control late in the match, running out 9.16 (70) to 4.6 (30) winners.
Falcons coach Luke Daffy said Eastern Ranges’ faster, and cleaner ball movement proved the difference when they broke the contest open before half-time.
“They outplayed us in the second quarter and managed to get the footy moving really quick around the contest by hand and really slingshot from half-back,” Daffy said.
“We weren’t able to trap the footy in our front half, which meant it was really hard to defend.
“They really stifled our ball movement, and there wasn’t a lot of fluency in the way we moved the footy.
“We were just really slow and predictable, which made it really easy for them to defend.”
The Falcons showed spirit, outscoring their opponents 3.4 to 2.4 in the third quarter.
“We probably played our best 25 minutes of footy for the last month or so and started to take the game on a little bit,” Daffy said.
“We started to get a little bit more aggressive with our ball movement and started taking a few more risks, which is what we were trying to encourage the players to do.
“That was positive, but in the last quarter, they (Eastern Ranges) got back on top a little bit.
“We were really positive going in at three-quarter time, and we had a lot of momentum going.
“But unfortunately, we couldn’t get going in that first five minutes of the last quarter, which was a little bit disappointing.”
Daffy was full of praise for impressive midfielder Chas Karpala, key defender Sam Bourke and 17-year-old backman Cameron Fleeton.
“Sam Bourke was very good at centre half-back,” Daffy said.
“He’s really strong one-on-one, he beat his opponent and then worked off offensively.
“He probably had close to the most amount of possessions he’s had in NAB League footy, which is good for him.
“But more importantly, the way he defended was what made his performance so positive.
“Chas Karpala was really strong for us again as a midfielder and Cam Fleeton was really positive in his second game of footy at this level.
“He held down a key position spot in defence and was really strong.”
The Falcons take on Sandringham Dragons at Ballarat’s MARS Stadium on Saturday.
Twitter: @shayne_hope
EASTERN RANGES 1.4, 4.8, 6.12, 9.16 (70)
GEELONG FALCONS 1.0, 1.0, 4.4, 4.6 (30)
Goals: Eastern Ranges: J. Duffy 3, J. Jaworski 2, J. Tilly, B. Hickleton, B. McCormack, Z. Pretty
Geelong Falcons: C. Brauer, T. Richardson, J. Grigsby, J. Sarcevic
Best: Eastern Ranges: M. Mellis, J. Ross, W. Parker, J. Duffy, M. Zalac, Z. Pretty
Geelong Falcons: S. Bourke, C. Karpala, C. Fleeton, W. Kilpatrick, O. Barrow, J. Sarcevic
