East Point charge towards finals despite slow starts in recent weeks

It’s the damning statistic which could bring the Ballarat Football Netball League defending premiers down, but East Point is not yet worried

East Point is not worried at all that their poor starts might cost them when finals come around in the Ballarat Football Netball League.

The Kangaroos currently sit second in the competition and are on track to defend the titles they won in 2018 and 2019.

But there is one area of concern in the lead up to the finals - their starts.

In the past seven matches the team has been down at the first change five times.

In four of them, the Kangaroos have been down by more than five goals.

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Last week, East Point was down by six goals at quarter time to North Ballarat before coming back to win by 11 points.

East Point coach Jake Bridges said the poor starts were not an area of focus ahead of their clash against Darley this weekend.

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“I’m not really concerned,” he revealed.

“As long as you are in front in the last quarter.

“For us there are things that we are continuing to work on, including that.”

Bridges said the team showed plenty of resolve to bounce back and win against North Ballarat.

“I wasn’t disappointed at quarter time,” he said.

“There have been plenty of times this season where we’ve been knocked down and need to get back up again.

“Sometimes there are things in games that catch you unaware and you need to fix it.

“You can sometimes only play as well as the opposition let you.”

Bridges is confident the team will get better with a couple of players back from injury.

Cam Lovig returned last week after seven weeks out with injury while 2019 premiership player Dallas Martin is set to return from a broken finger either this week or next.

“He ran a marathon on Sunday (last week) and did the running for reserves,” Bridges said.

“He’ll be one of the fittest when he returns.”

Their absence has given younger players at the club the chance for more game time with some presented the opportunity to debut at senior level.

The latest was Joe Fraser last week, who played for the club on Saturday before helping St Patrick’s College to make the final in the Herald Sun Shield this week.

Joe Fraser of St Patrick's College has had a big week in his football career. Photo by Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“He’s said after the game how thankful he was,” Bridges said.

“I said ‘if you get an opportunity, grab it,’

“He had a set shot 35m out which he got to put us in the contest in the final quarter.

“It shows a lot of maturity to kick that.”

More than half a dozen under-19 players have played for the club this year, which Bridges credits to the culture of the club.

He’s hoping the experience of those from 2019’s premiership success and those coming through can help the club get back to the top this year.

First the team will need to get past Darley who are in their own fight for a finals spot.

A win for East Point will keep them in the top-two.

“It’s always a great challenge heading there,” Bridges said.