Tigers Stage Comeback VictoryVFL website
August 1, 2011In a remarkable turn of events, Coburg Tigers came to life in the second half of football on Saturday afternoon to snatch a two-point win following a goal less opening term as Brittany Shanahan reports.
If you had to put your house on a winner at Preston City Oval; no doubt you wouldn’t have looked any further than the Northern Bullants, who were holding onto fourth spot. Think again.
The Bullants held Coburg goal less in the first quarter as Nick Meese was effective off half back, intercepting entries inside 50, while up the other end, Setanta O’hAlipin worked tirelessly to present and provide a dangerous target up forward.
Coburg was running into trouble, rather than out. Over handballing, chip kicks and lowered vision hurt the side. It looked like a potential smacking and the only fight that Coburg would put up is the one going into the quarter time huddles.
Yet out of nowhere, momentum shifted and Coburg was taking the game on as instructed by their coach Adam Potter.
In the last quarter, the Bullants didn’t look like a top four side; constantly chasing the tails of their Coburg counterparts and the frustration was clearly showing.
Coburg kicked four goals in the last quarter and returned the favor to the Bullants as they could only register two points.
Tiger Jayden Post was pivotal for Coburg in defence, halting a resurgent Bullants line-up to score and swing momentum in their favor.
No-one could wipe the smile off Potter’s face after the match as he embraced the players, congratulated them and reflected on the final moments of the game.
“It was a good feeling (when Ben Nason kicked the winning goal) but I still thought there was 5 or 6 minutes to go in the quarter,” he said.
“I didn’t get caught up in it. When the siren went it was a bit of shock, relief, excitement and all those things put together.”
Despite not kicking off the game on the right note, Potter believed his players were able to get over the line if they all put the effort in.
“It was a poor start but at the same time there was signs that our work rate was there where it wasn’t existent last week,” he said.
“I thought our third quarter was the real critical quarter, we outscored them by one point and we had more of the ball and we closed down their contested marks.”
Potter praised the efforts of Sam Power (33 possessions, two goals) and Tom Hislop (24 possession, one goal) but was impressed with Ben Clifton’s tagging role on Carlton young gun, Ed Curnow.
“Curnow was getting pretty frustrated and trying to shake the tag by going forward and going off but I thought Benny was pretty disciplined with Ed Curnow,” he said.
This week Coburg host Box Hill Hawks and will hope to get a second consecutive win. Creating a successful culture is what the club is aiming for and Potter is hoping the young batch of players coming through will remain for the long haul.
“We are starting to get a core group of players together and hopefully we will be around for a few more years to come.”
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