Eltham Collegians pay heavy price for inaccuracy as South Morang snatch draw in NFL Division 3

Bad kicking is bad football, as the old cliche goes, and Eltham Collegians have paid a heavy price after South Morang snatched a draw with a kick after the siren in Division 3.

Jesse Howell in action for Eltham Collegians last year.

Bad kicking is bad football — and Eltham Collegians have paid a heavy price in the past fortnight.

The Turtles are still searching for their first win of the NFL Division 3 season after South Morang snatched a draw at Mill Park Lakes Reserve on Saturday.

Down by eight points with just minutes left, the Lions launched a last-gasp comeback and had the chance to win with a kick after the siren but the shot missed and the points were shared 8.14 (62) to 9.8 (62).

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Eltham Collegians registered five more scoring shots, a week after kicking 5.12 in a 13-point loss to Kilmore.

Turtles coach John Garrard said the team was still a work in progress after shifting from the VAFA after last season.

“That’s two weeks in a row we’ve cost ourselves matches with inaccurate kicking,” he said.

Jesse Howell in action for Eltham Collegians in the VAFA last year.

“Our team is very different to what we had last year in the Ammos … I think we played 14 new players in the first three rounds.

“We’re happy with the way the team is coming together. Every week we’re improving, just getting used to playing together.

“We always knew it would take four or five weeks for us to jell as a group and play some good footy.”

A spate of injuries also made life hard for Eltham Collegians with Eden Simpson, Lachlan Pearson and Tom O’Neill all suffering concussions.

Holding an 11-point lead at three-quarter-time, Garrard said the Turtles had stuck to the game plan perfectly until the final two minutes.

“We didn’t have a bench, they had 23 players, in the last quarter and a half and we just ran out of steam,” he said.

“We controlled the ball and stuck to the game plan against the wind.

“After 30 minutes of controlling the whole quarter, it got away from us in the last couple of minutes.”

Eltham Collegians host undefeated Laurimar in Round 5 after the Power claimed a one-point thriller over Panton Hill in a top-of-the-table clash.

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