EFL Division 3: Whitehorse Pioneers rue ‘opportunity lost’ against top-two Warrandyte

Whitehorse coach Duncan Jones has weighed in on his side’s missed opportunity against a top team on Saturday, with the result consigning his side to a fifth-straight loss.

It was a golden opportunity gone begging, Whitehorse Pioneers senior coach Duncan Jones says.

The Eastern league Division 3 outfit fell agonisingly short of defeating top-two side Warrandyte on Saturday, with the Bloods edging the Pioneers by a goal in time-on.

It’s a result which lands the Pioneers just four points clear of the relegation zone, with two teams set to face the drop at season’s end.

Pioneers coach Duncan Jones says Saturday was a bitter pill to swallow. Picture: Valeriu Campan

They sit in sixth, ahead of Scoresby, Glen Waverley and Fairpark – all of which they meet in three of their four matches in the run home, alongside fifth-placed Ferntree Gully.

Jones said the 9.18 (72) to 11.12 (78) loss was a bitter pill to swallow, after his side rallied from 13 points down at the final change to snatch the lead by five points deep in the last term.

Jones pointed to a myriad of statistics his side had the edge on the finals-bound Bloods.

“It’s an opportunity that we’ve lost … more scoring shots, inside-50s … I think we won the (centre) clearances 11-8 as well, from the stats-based scenario we really just should have won by a comfortable margin to be honest,” he said.

“But credit to Warrandyte, there’s a reason they’re in the top-four and top-two, they’ve just got that winning mentality.

“When we went up five points at the 26-minute mark, they found another gear.

“That’s why they’re playing finals and why we still have a little bit to go before we can get to that point.”

The Pioneers meet Fairpark, Glen Waverley, Scoresby and Ferntree Gully in the run home. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The Pioneers have now lost five matches in a row, leaving Jones to lament several missed chances.

Defeats to third-placed Coldstream (31 points), ladder-leader Waverley Blues (21 points), Donvale (fourth, 67 points) and Ferntree Gully (fifth, 43 points) have told the tale of the Pioneers’ past month.

They also fell to Glen Waverley by eight points in Round 7, but claimed the scalps of Donvale (eight points) and Coldstream (20 points) earlier in the season.

“I’m not about honourable losses,” Jones said.

“This (Warrandyte) game, the Glen Waverley game, Coldstream game where we went to sleep for a quarter, the Waverley Blues game where we had multiple inside-50s again and just didn’t capitalise … you can see we’ve played all right, but at the end of the day, it’s either four points or it’s not.

“You could argue that we should’ve got the four points in all of them, but it’s just lapses that we’re getting better at.”

While there was no sugar-coating Saturday’s loss, Jones insists there had been improvement on last season’s eighth-placed finish with a 3-9 result.

The club has won four matches this season from 12.

“Comparing from last year to this year, we’re competing really well against top sides,” Jones said.

“Against Donvale the second time we had a really bad day and they took us to the cleaners, but aside from that out of the other seven games against top four, we’ve competed really well.

“We’ve pinched two and been in games right up to our ears and we just haven’t had the composure to get ourselves over the line.”