By Bruno Visentini
Coburg’s round 21 VFL clash with Frankston at Piranha Park on Saturday saw the Dolphins emerge victorious, winning by 36 points in the penultimate round of the home and away season.
2023 had been a struggle for both teams with Coburg coming into the match yet to win in 16 attempts, while the Dolphins had netted 3 wins but hadn’t been on the winners list in their past 9 matches. For both sides, the match looked like their best chance at securing a win for the remainder of the season with both coming up against AFL affiliated sides in the final round, so a win was imperative in this matchup for the players, coaches, and supporters alike.
The first quarter began, and Frankston had their way for the majority of the term, starting with an early goal to Trent Mynott who took advantage of the lack of wind and converted a set shot from a free kick within the first two minutes. Kai Owens threatened to make it worse with two attempts but both resulted in behinds and Coburg almost netted a goal not too long after but Braedyn Gillard’s snap off a hitout went just astray. Things would continue to spiral in Frankston’s favour when Mynott kicked a second goal less than 30 seconds later following some quick transition play from the Dolphins.
This would emerge as a theme in the first quarter with Frankston generating plenty of opportunities by quickly moving the ball from one end to another. Inaccuracy was the key factor saving Coburg thus far as two more of Frankston’s opportunities would go on to lead to behinds, but it wouldn’t last for long as Josh Stern would kick Frankston’s third goal. Another rushed behind pushed Frankston’s lead to a high of 22 points but Coburg would show signs of life when Nathan Boucher marked and played on to kick the Lions’ first late in the quarter.
Frankston had been the stronger side in the first term, as evidenced by their lead of 16 points when the quarter time siren rang, while Coburg had been inconstant in their performance. There were patches where huge defensive efforts stopped Frankston from leading by more while at other points it was just far too easy for the Dolphins to create opportunities.
Coburg needed a big response in the second quarter, but it seemed as though Frankston would keep asserting their dominance in the match. The Dolphins were unlucky to net two behinds early on, but the Coburg faithful continued to believe as Mitch Podhajski slotted a ridiculous goal under heavy pressure to trim the margin to 12. A smattering of behinds to each team saw the deficit as low as 10 points.
Unfortunately though, it was to be short lived as two more Frankston goals had the lead balloon out once more to 23 points. One more Mitch Podhajski goal brought the lead down to 17 points and that’s where it sat at the end of the term. The margin could have been smaller when Coburg went forward moments before the siren, but Frankston’s desperation in defence was far too great and was enough to restrict scoring as the quarter ended.
The second term did still show a lot of improvement and the contest was certainly more even than it had been early in the match, but Frankston’s inaccuracy thus far was perhaps a little flattering for the Lions having kicked 5 goals and 9 behinds to Coburg’s 3 goals 4.
Rain started to become a factor when some slight showers rolled over the ground and remained for the rest of the game. As such, the second half saw less scoring than the first but Frankston had little trouble accounting for it. After a rushed behind to the Dolphins, Justin Davies kicked back to back goals while Trent Mynott kicked another goal to bring both players’ tallies to 3 for the match. Each team kicked another behind before Mitch Podhajski broke through with Coburg’s first goal of the term just a few minutes before three quarter time.
Coburg were perhaps flattered by a few Frankston attempts at goal not registering a score, including a shot from 50 after the siren not making the distance, as Frankston seemed to swing momentum into their favour slightly and looked the better team in the third term. The 30 point deficit at the final change was certainly an obstacle, but not an insurmountable one by any means, but a big final quarter was needed.
Unfortunately for the Lions, it was not a quarter for scoring with the lone goal of the term going Frankston’s way via Will Fordham early around ten minutes in. In fact, Coburg were headed for a scoreless final quarter with plenty of shots at goal missing completely or being marked near the goal line. The scoreless streak was broken via an Ingo Dammersmith behind from a difficult shot under pressure near the point post, but the performance was not enough to put the 4 points on the board with the final score reading Coburg 4.6 (30) to Frankston 9.12 (66).
Our final match of the season is against Essendon at Windy Hill on Sunday the 20th of August at 1:05 PM, we hope to see as many of the Coburg faithful there to cheer on the boys in what will be the final opportunity to cheer them on this season. Go Lions!
GOALKICKERS:
(3) M. Podhajski, (1) N. Boucher
FINAL SCORE:
Coburg: 1.1 (7) | 3.4 (22) | 4.5 (29) | 4.6 (30)
Frankston: 3.5 (23) | 5.9 (39) | 8.11 (59) | 9.12 (66)
