By Bruno Visentini
Sunday’s clash between Coburg and Frankston in Round 18 of the 2024 VFL Season was far from pretty. The contest was low-scoring and both teams struggled to kick accurately over the course of the match, but ultimately it was Frankston, desperate to hold on to its wildcard spot in 10th place, who walked away from Piranha Park with the victory, prevailing by 28 points.
The match started slowly, with Frankston only emerging as the stronger team in the second term where they kicked away to a strong lead that they never truly looked like they would give up. The result keeps Coburg in 18th spot with only three games and, although chances were extremely slim prior to the game, strikes the Lions out of finals contention, now sitting 4 games behind Frankston in 10th place.
Conditions were touch-and-go prior to the match with a patch of rain looking like sticking around, but the skies cleared for most of the match leaving a mud patch in the middle of the ground to make the game just that little bit more difficult for either side to get control of. It took a few minutes before Frankston drew first blood with Blake O’Leary running through to an open goal to give the Dolphins the early advantage.
That early advantage lasted a while, with nearly 15 minutes passing without a score. The Lions put on a behind before a Frankston turnover resulted in a nice chain of play that put the ball in Joel Trudgeon’s hands who kicked the distance to an open goal and got the Lions ahead by a point.
Another behind to each team before quarter time gave the Lions a one-point buffer at the break, with neither side truly gaining any ascendency over the other in what was looking like a very contested match. It was becoming clear that one side needed to gain the upper hand in the second quarter to take control of the game, and with the wind aiding Frankston in the second term, it was going to be a difficult task for the Lions.
With several behinds scored to start the quarter, the 8 to 7 scoreline at quarter time had only grown to a Frankston lead of 11 to 10 halfway through the second. Frankston broke the goal drought when Noah Gown won a free kick in a marking contest and converted for an important goal that increased Frankston’s buffer to 7 points. Another goal, this time a set shot outside 50 by Matt Johnson, indicated that the floodgates might have been about to burst.
Matt Johnson popped up again with another goal from a set shot, and backed it up with a third goal, this time after the siren, to cap off a 28 to nothing run for Frankston and have the half time score sitting at Coburg 1.4 (10) to Frankston 5.8 (38). Although last week’s game against Port Melbourne saw Coburg in a similarly tough position on the scoreboard as this, this time Frankston had coupled their scoreboard domination with leads in most stats and looked far stronger than the home side.
The sides were separated by more than just stats with key issues at play for the Lions including discipline and turning over the ball too much when trying to chain possessions together, but by virtue of the low scoring nature of the game, these issues weren’t impossible to come back from. A big start was needed and that’s exactly what was dished up when Max Thompson kicked a goal within the first minute of the quarts.
Frankston countered this with a goal of their own as Blake O’Leary ran towards goal and slotted it, and the Dolphins had another goal soon after courtesy of George Grey off the back of a turnover. As disastrous as this seemed for Coburg, another goal to Max Thompson put the margin close to where it was at half time and still gave the Lions a glimmer of hope.
A trio of behinds to the Dolphins took up a good chunk of time, but the arm wrestle for momentum saw Frankston’s defence start to loosen up. It took a few tries as the Lions could only manage three behinds of their own, but eventually Mitch Podhajski broke through with a strong mark and an accurate kick from his set shot to keep Coburg in the contest.
At three quarter time the scores looked inaccurate for both sides, Coburg with 1.9 (33) and Frankston with 7.11 (53). The 20-point margin was smaller than half time, but once again, whether Coburg could come back from it was conditional on starting the final quarter well.
The strong start came when Jesse Corigliano presented up forward and took a couple grabs for a mark in a one-on-one contest, and he converted his set shot in front of goal to bring the game back down to 14 points. With conditions not lending themselves to a high scoring match thus far, it was difficult for both sides to pile onto the scoreboard, so this had to be followed up by another goal soon or else the Dolphins would run away with it.
Unfortunately for Coburg, Frankston were able to prevent the Lions from adding to their score of the most part. A goal to George Grey looked to seal the match and when Jack Newnes put the margin out to 30-points heading into added time, it appeared all but over. Two more late behinds to the Lions put the margin down to 28 points and that’s where it would sit as the final siren rang.
The final scores read Coburg 5.11 (41) to Frankston 9.15 (69). The win was Frankston’s fourth in a row and thwarted the Lions’ chance at back-to-back wins. Flynn Gentile was named Lion of the Round for his performance that included 35 disposals, 4 marks and 3 tackles.
The Lions will take on reigning premiers Gold Coast in a big game at People First Stadium on Saturday and for those fans who can’t make the trip up to Queensland, the game will also be streamed on AFL.com.au and the AFL app. Get behind the Lions for what should be an entertaining matchup.
Dolphins prevail in Sunday slogfest
By Bruno Visentini
Sunday’s clash between Coburg and Frankston in Round 18 of the 2024 VFL Season was far from pretty. The contest was low-scoring and both teams struggled to kick accurately over the course of the match, but ultimately it was Frankston, desperate to hold on to its wildcard spot in 10th place, who walked away from Piranha Park with the victory, prevailing by 28 points.
The match started slowly, with Frankston only emerging as the stronger team in the second term where they kicked away to a strong lead that they never truly looked like they would give up. The result keeps Coburg in 18th spot with only three games and, although chances were extremely slim prior to the game, strikes the Lions out of finals contention, now sitting 4 games behind Frankston in 10th place.
Conditions were touch-and-go prior to the match with a patch of rain looking like sticking around, but the skies cleared for most of the match leaving a mud patch in the middle of the ground to make the game just that little bit more difficult for either side to get control of. It took a few minutes before Frankston drew first blood with Blake O’Leary running through to an open goal to give the Dolphins the early advantage.
That early advantage lasted a while, with nearly 15 minutes passing without a score. The Lions put on a behind before a Frankston turnover resulted in a nice chain of play that put the ball in Joel Trudgeon’s hands who kicked the distance to an open goal and got the Lions ahead by a point.
Another behind to each team before quarter time gave the Lions a one-point buffer at the break, with neither side truly gaining any ascendency over the other in what was looking like a very contested match. It was becoming clear that one side needed to gain the upper hand in the second quarter to take control of the game, and with the wind aiding Frankston in the second term, it was going to be a difficult task for the Lions.
With several behinds scored to start the quarter, the 8 to 7 scoreline at quarter time had only grown to a Frankston lead of 11 to 10 halfway through the second. Frankston broke the goal drought when Noah Gown won a free kick in a marking contest and converted for an important goal that increased Frankston’s buffer to 7 points. Another goal, this time a set shot outside 50 by Matt Johnson, indicated that the floodgates might have been about to burst.
Matt Johnson popped up again with another goal from a set shot, and backed it up with a third goal, this time after the siren, to cap off a 28 to nothing run for Frankston and have the half time score sitting at Coburg 1.4 (10) to Frankston 5.8 (38). Although last week’s game against Port Melbourne saw Coburg in a similarly tough position on the scoreboard as this, this time Frankston had coupled their scoreboard domination with leads in most stats and looked far stronger than the home side.
The sides were separated by more than just stats with key issues at play for the Lions including discipline and turning over the ball too much when trying to chain possessions together, but by virtue of the low scoring nature of the game, these issues weren’t impossible to come back from. A big start was needed and that’s exactly what was dished up when Max Thompson kicked a goal within the first minute of the quarts.
Frankston countered this with a goal of their own as Blake O’Leary ran towards goal and slotted it, and the Dolphins had another goal soon after courtesy of George Grey off the back of a turnover. As disastrous as this seemed for Coburg, another goal to Max Thompson put the margin close to where it was at half time and still gave the Lions a glimmer of hope.
A trio of behinds to the Dolphins took up a good chunk of time, but the arm wrestle for momentum saw Frankston’s defence start to loosen up. It took a few tries as the Lions could only manage three behinds of their own, but eventually Mitch Podhajski broke through with a strong mark and an accurate kick from his set shot to keep Coburg in the contest.
At three quarter time the scores looked inaccurate for both sides, Coburg with 1.9 (33) and Frankston with 7.11 (53). The 20-point margin was smaller than half time, but once again, whether Coburg could come back from it was conditional on starting the final quarter well.
The strong start came when Jesse Corigliano presented up forward and took a couple grabs for a mark in a one-on-one contest, and he converted his set shot in front of goal to bring the game back down to 14 points. With conditions not lending themselves to a high scoring match thus far, it was difficult for both sides to pile onto the scoreboard, so this had to be followed up by another goal soon or else the Dolphins would run away with it.
Unfortunately for Coburg, Frankston were able to prevent the Lions from adding to their score of the most part. A goal to George Grey looked to seal the match and when Jack Newnes put the margin out to 30-points heading into added time, it appeared all but over. Two more late behinds to the Lions put the margin down to 28 points and that’s where it would sit as the final siren rang.
The final scores read Coburg 5.11 (41) to Frankston 9.15 (69). The win was Frankston’s fourth in a row and thwarted the Lions’ chance at back-to-back wins. Flynn Gentile was named Lion of the Round for his performance that included 35 disposals, 4 marks and 3 tackles.
The Lions will take on reigning premiers Gold Coast in a big game at People First Stadium on Saturday and for those fans who can’t make the trip up to Queensland, the game will also be streamed on AFL.com.au and the AFL app. Get behind the Lions for what should be an entertaining matchup.
