Coburg fall to Frankston in Development League thriller

Best: Symes, Hemala, Christensen, Schraven, Tang, Boyd

Goals: Boyd 2, Schraven, Holdsworth, Robinson, Northe, Christensen, MacDonald, Cooper, Hemala

After overcoming a five-goal deficit, the Lions struggled against multiple momentum shifts and ultimately fell to the Dolphins by one point at Piranha Part this afternoon.

Coburg took a while to get going and Frankston took advantage, booting five goals to none in the opening term. Nothing went right for the Lions in the early stages – they were hurt by inaccurate disposal and couldn’t match the Dolphins frenetic pressure.

But after quarter-time Coburg looked a different team. Urgency lifted, ball use improved and the home side took its chances to pile on five goals of its own while also restricting the Dolphins. Goals from Aaron Christiensen, Jai Robinson, Ricky Schraven, Matt Northe and Cameron Holdsworth saw the Lions take a slender lead into the main break.

However Coburg again started slowly in the second half. Frankston regained control in the third term and again scored consecutively.  A late steadying goal by Dean MacDonald helped reduce the deficit but the Lions trailed at the final break.

James Latham began the high-pressure last quarter extremely well, taking strong contested marks and spoiling effectively. Michael Tang also helped set up play  and found the ball across the defensive 50.

Robinson was sent back and switched with Jesse Boyd – who marked his first game back from an ACL injury with two important goals to wipe out Frankston’s lead. The Lions lifted their attack on the ball, looked more threatening going forward and were able to lock the ball inside 50. Lively small forward Julian Hemala provided the highlight of the game with a terrific goal that he dribbled through from the boundary line.

Hemala also worked hard to win the inside ball, with 12 of his 17 possessions won in contests.

Despite the efforts of Damon Symes, who took a crucial pack mark deep in defence, Frankston responded and held on for a nail-biting win. 

Tom McConville had 26 disposals and a team-high eight clearances, and, along with Daniel Cooper and Nick Robortella (22 possessions each) were the Lions’ major ball-winners. Cooper also had an impress nine tackles.