By Bruno Visentini
Round 6 saw Coburg fall short in their closest match this year, going down by 8 points against Geelong at Piranha Park.
The low scoring but tense affair wasn’t the result the Lions were looking for, however there were positives to draw from the game, namely some elite defensive pressure that forced plenty of Geelong errors. The match also marked the first time this season that Coburg ended a game with more goals than behinds.
However having come into the game with a golden opportunity to leapfrog the winless Sydney Swans who had a bye, the team will be disappointed they couldn’t capitalise on it and pick up the four points.
The game began with Geelong getting the jump early on a day that boasted perfect footy conditions, however their inaccuracy was a problem early. After their first goal just two minutes into the match, the Cats added four more behinds. Most of Geelong’s scoring opportunities were spawning from Coburg turnovers and the Lions took some time to settle into the match. Nathan Boucher slotted Coburg’s first major of the game with a tidy set shot, and he added a second off some impressive end to end play to give Coburg a four-point lead approaching extra time – not a bad way to start his 24th birthday.
Geelong were quick to halt the celebrations on the day that also marked captain Jesse Corigliano and coach Jamie Cassidy-McNamara’s birthdays, as they kicked the next two goals and ended the quarter with a 9 point lead.
Needing a big quarter to buck the trend of losing competitiveness after quarter time, Coburg needed to respond quickly and give Geelong a fright. With plenty of run in the middle and some class to evade Geelong’s tackling, the Lions had an opportunity to score not much more than a minute into the quarter but only mustered a behind. Geelong went on to lock up possession for a good chunk of the quarter, but Coburg’s defenders displayed some elite pressure to prevent the Cats from kicking an elusive major and settle for three behinds.
The Lions appeared to tighten the screws around the ground and would kick the first goal of the quarter almost 14 minutes in via Jhye Baddeley-Kelly and Luke Nelson kicked one of his own to bring the Lions back within a point. Having restricted Geelong to six behinds for the quarter on top of scoring two goals, Coburg sat just two points behind at half time.
The third quarter was something of a deadlock at the beginning with the first score coming six minutes in, however it was Geelong who scored their first goal since the first quarter to push their lead out to eight points. Needing something big to respond with, Jhye Baddeley-Kelly slotted his second to keep it close and Aaron Clarke broke through for a goal after some near misses to give Coburg their first lead since late in the first quarter.
Entering the final change with a narrow two-point lead, Coburg had to capitalise on the opportunity at hand, and their chances were bolstered after Jonathan Ceglar went down with an injury, meaning the Cats were without arguably their most impactful player thus far.
After Ryan Eyers scored an early behind for the Cats, Sam Mason seized his opportunity to give Coburg their biggest lead of the match winning an unorthodox marking contest and kicking accurately. Just two minutes later though Jye Chalcraft of the Cats kicked one of his own to cancel it out and sat at 5 goals and 16 behinds, one point behind Coburg’s tidier 7 goals and 5 behinds.
The tide turned in Geelong’s favour in the last quarter and while the match had seen Coburg utilise their inside 50s more efficiently than the Cats thus far, Coburg couldn’t continue that over the rest of the game and conceded another goal and four behinds that saw Geelong snatch the lead and keep it until the final siren. The final score read Coburg 7.6 (48) vs Geelong 6.20 (56).
Next round Coburg will have the bye but will return on May 13th to take on the Northern Bullants at Piranha Park on the annual Vicki Cleary Day and we look forward to seeing the Coburg faithful out in full force to cheer the boys on against our local rivals.
GOALKICKERS:
N. Boucher 2, J. Baddeley-Kelly 2, L. Nelson, S. Mason, A. Clarke
BEST PLAYERS:
B.Gillard, B.Jepson, B.Reddick, L.Walker, N.Boucher, J.Baddeley-Kelly.
FINAL SCORE:
Coburg: 2.3 (15) | 4.4 (28) | 6.5 (41) | 7.6 (48)
Geelong: 3.6 (24) | 3.12 (30) | 4.15 (39) | 6.20 (56)
#WeAreCoburg
