BY MARK PAXTON.
Despite Coburg managing to impact the scoreboard late, Frankston were able to run away with the 49-point win this afternoon at Skybus Stadium.
Coburg started aggressive, spending the first five minutes of the match with the ball inside their forward-50, but struggled to convert onto the scoreboard.
Frankston were able to capitalise on Coburg’s mistakes, with costly turnovers leading to a 41-point margin at quarter time.
The start of the second quarter was very similar to the first, a solid start up forward for the Lions, but were unable to capitalise until ruckman Adam Swierzbiolek took a contested mark and kicked the Lions’ first goal of the game 35 metres out.
The second half saw a brand-new Coburg outfit, with captain Tom Goodwin dominating the hit outs. Marcus Lentini kicked a bomb from 55 metres out, which ignited a surge from the young Lions.
Hish Kerbatieh contributed two majors, while Tyson Lever and Mark Orr both kicked goals in the third.
The Lions hard work had finally started to pay off, winning the third quarter 5.2 to 2.1.
A back and forth final term kept Coburg within range of a comeback, but two rotations down seemed to cause them to run out of legs late; while Frankston piled on the goals. Mark Orr kicked a goal late to reduce the end result.
Lentini finished with 28 disposals, while Ben Allan also contributed with a hard fought 25 disposals. Jesse Corigliano, Nick Mellington and 50-gamer Liam Hunt all also had over 20 disposals for the game. Goodwin dominated the hit outs with 31, while also adding four clearances to his name.
Speaking post-match, forward line coach Tom Curran credited the third term fight to a strong message at halftime:
“We reinforced (that we need) to stick to our structures, and when we turned it around and we played our roles, it came together and that’s what got us back in the game.”
Curran also mentioned there is still work to be done in the opening quarters, and will need to get on top of it.
“We know when we stick to our structures, and what Leigh is trying to implement, that it works; we have seen that time and time again.”
“We have seen against some of the best teams in the comp, like Box Hill, that it works when we do it and we’re just not sticking to it.”
Looking to the week ahead, Curran said that “it will be a hard review, with lots of questions asked”.
“This is probably one of the poorer performances from the club this year (but) we will improve from it and move on, and keep reinforcing what we need to improve on..”
Next week Coburg will take on Collingwood for Vicki Cleary Day at Piranha Park.
#WeAreCoburg
Coburg: 0.3 1.6 6.8 8.12 (60)
Frankston: 7.2 10.7 12.8 16.13 (109)
Goals: Kerbatieh 2, Orr 2, Swierzbiolek, Lentini, Lever, Mellington.
