Coburg marks VFL return to Piranha Park with a win over Carlton
Four goals from Sam Lowson and a Luke Bunker triple-double inspires Coburg’s victorious return to Piranha Park against Carlton.
Victorian Football
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Coburg’s celebrated its return to Piranha Park in style on Saturday with a come-from-behind 37-point win over Carlton.
A commanding seven-goal final quarter delivered a milestone win in the Lions’ first VFL game back at their spiritual home in more than 700 days.
The 15.9 (99) to 9.8 (62) win was inspired by four goals from Sam Lowson, 39 disposals from midfield ball-magnet Marcus Lentini and a triple-double from Luke Bunker (32 touches, 15 clearances and 11 tackles).
The victory was Coburg’s third of the season, the club’s most since returning to a standalone in 2017.
Lions coach Andrew Sturgess said being back at home, in front of the faithful was a special day.
“We only got keys to the rooms two days before and moved out of the bowls club, which we’d been living out of for the last year and a half,” he said.
“Getting there (on Saturday), it was great to see the fans, long-time Coburg people and have a drink in the new bar with a win under our belt.”
Coburg burst out of the blocks with a five-goal first quarter, kicking against the wind, taking an 11-point margin into the first change.
The margin was 25 points at half-time as the Lions made good use of the wind but Carlton stormed back into the game with a third-quarter surge.
The Blues piled on four goals to nil and took a two-point lead into three-quarter-time but the Lions were always favoured with the breeze in the final term.
“We came home with the wind, it was probably a two to three goal breeze, but we set the game up in the first quarter,” Sturgess said.
“We were kicking against the wind but took a three-goal lead and that enabled us to get the game on our terms and play with a bit more freedom.
“They kicked four goals to our zero but to our boys’ credit they were all early in the quarter, we made a couple of adjustments and we held up really well in the last 20 minutes.”
Lowson has been a star since arriving at Coburg in 2017 but such was his influence on Saturday, Sturgess labelled it his best for the club.
“Sam was unbelievable, I said in the post-match I think that’s just about the best game I’ve seen him play for the club,” Sturgess said.
“He’s won a lot of one-on-one contests and beaten his opponent almost every game this year but what we loved was his ferociousness, to tackle and pressure, his trademark that got him to the level he is now.
“Not only did he kick four he’s probably set up another four or five as well.”
Lentini led all comers with 39 disposals but importantly also laid seven tackles and kicked a goal in an all-round display.
The star midfielder is the No.1 disposal-winner in the VFL with 36.9 per game.
Bunker has the second most tackles in the competition, behind only Werribee’s Dominic Brew, and finished with 18 contested disposals as well as two score involvements.
Former Richmond and Gold Coast player Corey Ellis made his return from injury with 18 possessions, four tackles and a goal.
Ryan Sturgess played on Carlton dangerman Ben Crocker, holding him to two goals, while tallying 13 disposals and a goal himself.
“Corey was really good, he’s super composed, which is something we’ve been lacking in previous years,” Andrew Sturgess said.
“He just hasn’t had a good run at it, he’s done two ankles, just rolling them at training or in games just by stepping on people.
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“Ryan’s had a bit of an interrupted year with the hammy and we set him the task of playing on Ben Crocker, who we regard as one of the best forwards in the competition. He’s been quite potent this year.
“We identified (Crocker) as a target that if we could nullify it would go a long way to us winning the game.
“Crocker kicked two but they would have had 20 one-on-one contests throughout the day and Ryan would have won most of them.”
The win sets up an intriguing clash next week against traditional rival Northern Bullants, who upset reigning premier Richmond.
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