Suns and Bombers rue late misses in frantic finale
Essendon and Gold Coast have snapped their losing streaks, but both sides will be wondering what could have been.
Essendon and Gold Coast have snapped their losing streaks, but both sides will be wondering what could have been.
In a Wednesday night thriller at Metricon Stadium the Bombers and Suns played out the second draw of the season – and both could have snatched it at the death.
A win would have lifted Essendon into the top eight with a game in hand, and the Gold Coast to within a win of the finals positions. Both teams played like their seasons were on the line.
Late goals to David Zaharakis – before he popped his quad that will sideline him for two weeks – and Kyle Langford looked set to give the Bombers their first win in three matches but the Suns through a wonder goal from Ben King levelled it up with a minute to go.
The Bombers again edged in front when captain for the match Dylan Shiel kicked a point.
King again levelled it and coach John Worsfold said the Bombers should have defended better after Shiel’s minor score.
“It would have been nice when we scored that point if we locked them in the front half, they got out too easy at that point in the game through uncontested marks and that put them back in a dangerous position,” he said.
Worsfold said the Bombers were able to drag themselves back into the match by not focusing on the Suns’ lead on the scoreboard
“The lessons learnt from last week (coughing up a lead against GWS) were whatever is on the scoreboard should have no impact on your mindset or the way we are working on playing,” he said.
Suns forward Izak Rankine had a shot to snap the Suns three-game losing streak in the final seconds but did not make the distance as both teams had to settle for a draw.
Rankine, in his sixth game, is now among the competition’s most watchable players. After not being sighted in the first quarter, Rankine added an X-factor in a game that while end-to-end was also lacking in quality.
Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew says he wants Rankine to keep backing himself at crucial moments when games are on the line.
He said the late miss just demonstrated what a good player he is.
“He will be fine, the reason he’s got them is because how good of a player he is and he wants the ball,” he said. “When you watch close games you see some players and they are a bit unsure, one thing is for sure Izak wants the ball and we will continue to encourage him to get the ball. He will win us more games than not, the fact that he keeps showing up in those moments is the a sign of a really class player and competitor.”
NCA Newswire
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