Drysdale blows its chance to knock off league leaders Geelong Amateur
The Ammos, without two of its key goalkickers have done enough to down the Hawks, aided by a hard nut midfielder after a decade on the sidelines with ongoing knee issues.
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Was this the big opportunity the Hawks let slip?
With six more scoring shots and arguably enjoying the most dominant passage of play for the game at Mortimer Oval, it certainly felt like Drysdale had their chances to knock off the 13-1 Geelong Amateur on Saturday.
And it came in a Round 14 fixture where the Ammos were missing their number one offensive weapon and league leading goalkicker in Mitch Day to suspension, while Riley Ferguson, Tom Gorrell (17 goals for the year) and Jai Sheahan were also out of the 22.
While they were out, hard nut Jack Pickering brought plenty of energy and aggression to the contest for the visitors.
Incredibly, Pickering is back playing for the first time this year since 2015 following ongoing knee issues before getting the all clear to return to competitive sport in November last year.
However, considering the blustery conditions which made possession difficult by foot, it was perhaps the ideal game for Day to miss with the Ammos getting their opening two goals at ground level.
Down by 25 points at the main break, the Hawks, with key absentees themselves in Lauchlan Dalgleish and star intercept defender Luke Preece missing, would add a further four points to their 3.6 half time scoreline, including posters to Chris Tainton and Jake Hargreaves.
However, with James Breust everywhere and Ben Henderson emerging as a forward threat, the Hawks slowly trimmed the lead back to just three points when the former kicked truly in the 14th minute.
With the quarter’s first seven scoring shots, the home side was seriously coming.
But like all good sides do, the Ammos steadied with back-to-back majors to thwart the Drysdale advance and take back control.
It was perhaps telling the home side’s next four scores after that Breust goal were behinds before Jake Hargreaves, who had been well held by Ammos captain Liam Cogan and others, kicked truly in the final term.
But Drysdale had left their run too late as the Ammos got home by nine points, 12.7 (79) to 9.16 (70), in a chaotic but ultimately intriguing contest between two BFNL premiership contenders.
Hawks coach Ben Carmichael had asked his charges to provide the requisite polish forward of the ball but it simply didn’t come often enough, and at the scoring end the Hawks booted a wayward 5.11 to the Ammos’ 8.6.
Was that the game?
Earlier, with the wind dragging the ball violently to the right hand pocket on the scoreboard side, both teams used spare defenders to limit the damage across the first two terms.
The Hawks would own the opening 10 minutes, taking beyond that for the Ammos to get their first inside 50.
And in a quarter which would set the tone for the remainder of the game, the visitors made the most of their far fewer entries to lead by one point at the break, 12-11.
Meanwhile, Breust had harnessed the breeze to great effect for the Hawks’ first but it would be an outlier as they continued to pepper the right hand side of the goals, finishing the term with 1.5.
In the second, the visitors did what the home team couldn’t do, take their chances, with three coming from the boot of co-coach Sam Lloyd as the Ammos quickly opened up a 19-point lead.
The former AFL Tiger’s first major was a superb set shot from 50, considering the conditions, before a terrific snap from the pocket.
Lachlan Reilly rivalled his co-coach’s effort with a great conversion before Charley Green made up for dropping an easy Lloyd assist to dribble the ball home on his left.
Two goals to Joel Watson kept the home team in the game as the Ammos threatened to kick away.
Drysdale almost had the perfect start to the third with Chris Tainton’s long range shot smashing into the goalpost.
In fact the Hawks would play their best version of footy for the day across the opening 10 minutes, far cleaner and fluent, owning the opening seven scoring shots of the term.
However, for all their dominance, the Hawks would have been disappointed with 4.6 for the quarter to the Ammos’ 2.1.
It felt like the visitors to some degree had dodged a few bullets.
Lloyd – who almost pulled down the mark of the year in the final term – would take his match haul to five before Cody Diana iced the match in fine style from near the arc.
Both teams’ defence held up, with the likes of Weigl and Zeitz collecting plenty of intercept marks while Tom Ruggles was terrific finding options off half back while providing grunt and drive.
One of the league’s best defenders, Jack Jenkins, was his super reliable self in Preece’s absence.
Barwon Heads produce 55-point turnaround to bank important win
The Seagulls have recovered from a 22-point deficit early in the second term at Howard Harmer Oval to eventually win by 33 in a hugely-important win for their finals chances.
The win maintains their place in fifth position, on 28 points with Anglesea who ended a five-game losing streak to down Portarlington.
Jack Walters booted three for the winners in a 21-point victory at the Port while Ayden Gras was kept to just one major.
Meanwhile, Modewarre were restricted to 3.2 after quarter time against the reigning premier, going down by 33 points at Mount Moriac Reserve.
And at the Couta Bowl, Queenscliff belted Newcomb by 55 points with Jordan Monahan slotting five
Down by 74 points at the final break, the Power at least put some respectability on the scoreboard with a 5.4 to 2.3 last quarter.
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Originally published as Drysdale blows its chance to knock off league leaders Geelong Amateur
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