Balwyn snaps its run of losses with a four-goal win over Noble Park

UNDER pressure after three consecutive losses in the Eastern league, Balwyn hits back with a four-goal win over Noble Park.

Noblem Park’s Jackson Sketcher runs away from Balwyn’s Tom Wilson.

THE scoreboard credited his team with a 24-point victory over Noble Park.

But Balwyn coach Rodney Eade thought it short-changed the Tigers.

“Yeah, I think we should have won by eight to 10 (goals),’’ he said after Saturday’s match at Cherry Rd, a stand-alone EFL Queens’s Birthday weekend fixture.

“The second quarter, we dominated, had a lot of inside 50s, but kept missing. Could have read a lot differently at the end of the day.’’

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Still, beset by injuries and coming off three consecutive defeats, Eade was satisfied the Tigers had steadied their season at 5-4 and could take a week’s breather before a Round 10 visit to North Ringwood.

With Kris Pendlebury a surprise but superb target in attack, Balwyn had booted 31 points clear by halftime.

Pendlebury has made his reputation as one of suburban football’s best defenders, all dash and long kicking and strong marking.

Rodney Eade directing traffic on the Balwyn bench.

But the backman started in the forward line and booted three goals in the first quarter, stitching up an out-of-sorts Ryan Morrison and prompting the Bulls to send another Casey VFL player, Dylan Gordon, to him.

The opening term produced 11 goals but only two came in the second, with the Bulls managing just two behinds. They were fortunate the Tigers were astray with 2.5.

But out of nowhere Noble nailed five unanswered goals in the third quarter to grab the lead, two from the left-foot of the unheralded Cosimo Anagnostou. Its midfield division, led again by Kyle Martin and Jackson Sketcher, had taken control.

“You’ve got to be tighter on Martin. It’s no good kick-chasing the way you’re using it!’’ Eade snapped to top Tiger Liam Frazer as he came to the bench.

The Tigers sent Pendlebury back to fortify the defence. Then they turned back the Bulls with goals from Port Melbourne VFL ruckman Lachie Waddell, marking and slotting a set-shot; Jarryd Chirgwin, making a tricky shot from close to the boundary; and Liam Smith, getting boot to ball in a scramble in the goal square.

At three-quarter time their lead was 15 points, which they extended with two goals from key forward Jeff Gobbels early in the final quarter. A clever snap from Marc O’Regan slammed the door shut on the visitors.

Smith and Gobbels matched Pendlebury’s contribution of three goals, and the Tigers had other worthy contributors in Frazer, Rennie Gilchrist and onballer Shaun Cross, who, like Gilchrist, seems to save his best for the Bulls.

Yarran Jaffer-Williams bounced around the forward like a pinball, but his kicking sometimes let him down.

Balwyn’s Danny Baglava and Noble’s Jake Gains in a ruck contest.

Ed Court added a feel-good element to the victory: his 100th game for Balwyn was also his first at senior level, and he was handy.

Noble also had a debutant in Declan Brunell. The Under 18 player marked it with two goals.

Will Collis booted four for the Bulls in another strong outing, Ali Zijai was all zip and zest on his wing, and Martin was outstanding with 36 possessions. As the Noble skipper walked off the ground, Eade went over and congratulated him on his performance.

“I was really pleased with how our guys responded after being headed like that in the third quarter,’’ Eade said a few minutes later in the Balwyn rooms.

“To end up winning by four goals, it was a good effort.

“We’ve probably got about 10 players out. We lost five against Blackburn and we lost four against Norwood. It puts us under pressure a little bit. We were able to get a couple of VFL players today (Waddell and his Port Melbourne teammate Ryan Pendlebury, the younger brother of Kris), which helped, and we got Yarran Jaffer-Williams back and he played well. We’ll probably get three or four players back after the bye. It was a vital win for us today just to stay in touch.’’

Bulls coach Mick Fogarty termed it an “honourable loss’’ and “we just don’t accept those’’.

“We’ve had a few of those this season and now we want to start winning games,’’ he said. “I think we will. We’re 3-6 and I would have liked it to be 4-5. Having said that, we could easily be 4-5 or even 5-4. We’re expecting to improve. We need to string a few together and we’ll be OK.’’

Balwyn 7.1, 9.6, 12.6, 15.11 (101) d Noble Park 4.3, 4.5, 9.9, 11.11 (77)

Balwyn goals: L. Smith 3, K. Pendlebury 3, J. Gobbels 3, L. Waddell 2, M. O’’Regan, J. Chirgwin, Y. Jaffer-Williams, L. Frazer

Best: S. Cross, Y. Jaffer-Williams, L. Frazer, R. Gilchrist, S. Tregear, K. Pendlebury

Noble Park goals: W. Collis 4, C. Anagnostou 2, D. Brunell 2, J. Smith, P. Wright, J. Sketcher

Best: K. Martin, D. Gordon, J. Sketcher, J. Gains, W. Collis, C. Anagnostou