Lions fight bravely to the end in loss to Port

Best: Younan, Venditti, Carnell, Posar, Blair, Uysal
Goals: Younan 4, Hill 2, Clifton, Featherstone, Allan, Hunt, Madden, Kovacevic, Orr, Cauchi, Uysal
A gallant effort across four quarters has shown the Lions vast improvement in the off-season as they fell to top four perennials Port Melbourne by 12 points.
After suffering three injuries to midfielders, the Lions were fantastic in running out the contest, keeping Port Melbourne on its toes after the margin got out to a game high 36 points before the Lions got back into the game in the second half.
It was perfect conditions down at North Port Oval. The Senior side was making a rare appearance at 10:00am, and the ground was dry and ready for play.
It was Hugh Sandilands and Jordan Lisle who got the ball rolling for the Borough using experience to their advantage on 19-year-old Rory Lehmann as Port Melbourne burst out of the gates to kick the first four goals of the game. Daniel Younan kicked the first of his four goals of the afternoon to break the drought, with goals been soon followed after by Lech Featherstone and Ben Allan on debut from the Calder Cannons.
But the high-energy Lions were halted after a high elbow by Toby Pinwill on Lachie Johns, which saw Pinwill reported and Johns leaving the ground with blood pouring from the nose.
The statistics were setting the tone early for the contest. Both teams were eager to run and take the game on and the result would be determined ultimately by skill.
An early second quarter goal to Liam Hunt inspired an early comeback as the Burgers cut the margin to a point, But more carnage ensued as Johns went down again, this time appearing to be a lower leg injury. He wouldn’t return to the game and the Lions were down a midfielder.
The Borough capitalised on this setback and booted seven of the next nine goals to crush the spirits of the Coburg support and setting up a frustrated Peter German half time spray.

KEY STATS

Down by five goals at the break, the Lions came out a different team in the second half. Their pressure was back, the confidence was back and they were ready to mount a second comeback.
An early collision in the third term. left Tom Miles pouring with blood as he was rushed off to hospital with stitches needed.
Mark Orr had been activivated for the second half being subbed in for Lech Featherstone and made an immediate impact jumping on the scoreboard with the first goal of the third quarter.
The Lions carried on from there, with Joel Madden, Mark Kovacevic and Danny Younan all contributing goals to cut the margin down to 2 goals, kicking four unanswered goals, but a few late strikes from the Borough made Coburg pay after missing some kickable set shots on goal. A long range effort on the run from Ben Clifton as the siren sounded for three quarter time.
With the game in the balance, the Lions were boosted with a strike from goal sneak Josh Cauchi inside the first minute of the final term, and an upset was potentially brewing.
Port rebounded through their superstar half forward Chris Cain, and it was goal for goal from there until the siren. Coburg had fought gallantly but ultimately experience got the better of them as the Borough secured a 2-goal victory.
For the Lions, the plaudits go to Daniel Venditti. A supreme performance in the midfield, you’d hardly recognise that he’s had a largely interrupted preseason in just his second match of the year.
Keenan Posar rebounded from defence quite well and pushed up towards the wing when the Lions were short on midfielders. Finishing with 21 disposals, Posar proved he has what it takes to be a senior level player.
Another impressing performance was the work rate of Daniel Younan. After being dropped in Round 18 of last year, Younan stepped up today to snag four goals and is benefitting from another solid pre-season on the track.
Coburg now looks towards its first game for points next weekend against the former aligned Richmond Tigers in Round 1 of the 2015 Peter Jackson VFL Season. The Seniors match starts at 2:00PM at Piranha Park.