Dominant second quarter sets up Thomastown’s win over Northcote Park

Thomastown gives new co-coaches David Folino and Sash Spiroski the perfect start with victory over Northcote Park but both teams suffer injuries to key players.

Thomastown co-coaches David Folino (left) and Sash Spiroski (right) with captain Anthony Caceci.

Thomastown gave new co-coaches David Folino and Sash Spiroski the perfect start on Saturday night with a 21-point win over Northcote Park.

A five-goal second quarter proved decisive as the Bears took the four points under lights at Bill Lawry Oval, 11.11 (77) to 8.8 (56).

In a hectic, end-to-end match, players from both teams struggled with cramp, while each also paid a heavy price on the injury front.

Off-season recruits Nick Jolly, Youseph Dib and Kyle Green all booted two goals for the victors, while an energetic Ricky Fandrich kicked three for the Cougars.

Folino and Spiroski have been tasked with lifting Thomastown back into NFNL Division 2 finals and were pleased with the strong start.

Shannon Ball gets a kick for Thomastown. Picture: Andy Brownbill

“It was last man standing sort of stuff at the end but the boys fought it out,” Folino said.

“The skill level was pretty good from both teams, when we got clear space we both used it well.

“It was up-and-back at times and I think that’s where the boys started to cramp.”

Northcote Park started strongly, taking a nine-point lead into quarter-time, but was no match for Thomastown in a blistering second term.

The Bears piled on five goals to nil to turn the deficit into a 22-point lead at half-time.

The visitors ramped up the pressure, forcing the Cougars into a series of turnovers and capitalised on the scoreboard.

“The pressure is a focus point and then we try and rebound and score and we saw that tonight,” Folino said.

“We were really happy with that, it was clearly something we focused on.

“It led to some rebound scores and ability to hit targets inside 50, which we probably didn’t do in the first quarter.

“Once the boys got their tail up, they were pretty good.”

The match tightened up in the second half with both teams still finding full match fitness.

Thomastown could have extended the margin if not for inaccuracy as Northcote Park won the second half, 6.3 to 5.8.

The Bears named skipper Anthony Capeci as best afield, while Jolly, Green, Jarryd Coulson and Marcus Fox also impressed.

“The big fella Jolly, he’s a new guy, he was strong and took some good marks and kicked two goals,” Folino said.

“The Watsonia guys – Lucente and Janev – even though they didn’t hit the scoreboard as much, they were still dangerous, so it was impressive from those guys.

“Our mids were really good, some of our older players that came in late – Shannon Ball and Daniel Chadwick – were really good as well.”

Unfortunately, both teams were hit hard by injury on the night.

Thomastown is sweating on scans for defender Jackson Hayse after he went down with what looked a serious knee injury in the third quarter.

Northcote Park, meanwhile, lost Damon Marcon before the game and new recruit Terence de Santis dislocated his shoulder in the first quarter.

Also taking the reins for the first time, Cougars coach Anthony Palmer was far from disappointed with his team’s performance.

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Team of the Year defender Daniel Tallariti kept reigning league-leading goalkicker James Lucente to one goal, while Matt and Jordan Perry were prolific in midfield and Fandrich impressed in attack.

Palmer expects his team to improve in the coming weeks as it regains key players.

Elsewhere in Division 2, St Mary’s eased past Watsonia by 21 points and Diamond Creek and Whittlesea both recorded 68-point wins over Panton Hill and Laurimar respectively.

South Morang scored the biggest win of the round, trouncing Lower Plenty by 105 points.