Western Region Football League crashes to third straight Community Championships loss
Western Region Football League coach Brad Julier lamented his team’s inaccuracy and inability to defend the spread Community Championships loss to Goulburn Valley on Saturday.
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Western Region Football League coach Brad Julier lamented his team’s inaccuracy and inability to defend the spread in its 41-point Community Championships loss to Goulburn Valley on Saturday.
Trailing by 25 points at the final change, Western Region piled on the pressure but simply couldn’t convert, kicking 0.9 in the final quarter.
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In contrast, Goulburn Valley kicked four goals to close out a 11.14 (80) to 4.15 (39) win at Avalon Oval in Werribee.
Julier said it was a solid performance that lacked the finishing touches.
“We had our chances but you’re not going to win too many games of footy kicking 4.14,” he said.
“That last kick inside 50m, we just couldn’t get in deep enough so we were taking shots from a long way out.
“They were too slick on the outside, their ability to spread on the bigger ground got us.”
After an even start, Goulburn Valley took control in the second quarter, kicking five goals to two, but Western Region stemmed the flow in the third quarter.
However, despite having the ascendancy in the final quarter, the hosts weren’t able to convert their opportunities.
Altona’s Josh MacDonald was named best on ground for Western Region while Daniel Nielson (Hoppers Crossing) and Brydan Hogdson (Spotswood) also impressed.
“Josh was excellent on the wing, his ball use was terrific all day,” Julier said.
“Dan took some strong marks at centre half-back and Hodgy (Hodgson) was really strong through the middle with his contested ball winning.”
Fabian Brancatisano (Sunshine), Tim Jenkins (St Albans), Braden Ferrari (Hoppers Crossing) and Andrew Panayi (Werribee Districts) kicked the WRFL goals.
Former AFL forward Kayne Pettifer was a standout for Goulburn Valley with three goals while Michael Mattingly was named best on ground.
It was the WRFL’s third consecutive Community Championships loss but despite the result Julier was keen to continue.
“It’s up to the WRFL but everyone was positive after the game, the boys really enjoyed the experience,” he said.
“We’ve got the Vic Metro squad coming up and I expect a couple of the boys to get picked in that squad.”
The Northern Football League claimed the No.1 ranking on Saturday after defeating the Geelong Football League by 24 points.
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