Seniors - Round 2 (10^th April 2010)

Phillip Island v Fish Creek (Away)

The Phillip Island Bulldogs travelled to Fish Creek this week for their first road trip of the season. After last week’s good result, the Island were up against it with a number of key players out through injury. Jamie Robinson, Jarvis Weston, Kade Murphy, Kevin Taylor and Matt Brown were welcomed into the side for their first senior games off the year.

Fishy got on the board first and the Island were shown they were in for a tough game

in the opening stages of the match. In an instance, the opposition had banged on three goals and the Island were on the back foot. S.Docherty and Murdoch were providing plenty of drive from the back half, whilst J.Docherty was controlling the opposition’s key forward. Despite these efforts, the Bulldog’s delivery into the forward line was

letting them down, resulting in a meagre score of 0.2 for the quarter and plenty of work for the coaching staff at quarter time.

Q-time scores:
Phillip Island 0.2.2
Fish Creek 3.2.20

The 2^nd quarter started with some tough, hard football, but either side could not break free from each other’s defences. This caused many scrappy passages of play and the match started to become a slog, with close to no scoring at all for the quarter. Sam and Josh Docherty continued to have an impact down back in this quarter, and Weston’s experience was vital in the last line of defence. It is not very often that you see a quarter of football where both sides only manage to score one behind each, but this is exactly what happened.

Half-time scores:
Phillip Island 0.3.3
Fish Creek 3.3.21

The 3^rd quarter produced much of the same scrappy football that the match had produced so far, with both sides kicking inaccurate in front of goal. After a lacklustre first half of the quarter, the Bulldogs needed a spark and a position change provided this. J.Docherty was on top of his opponent at centre half back, before a move up forward saw him kick the Island’s first goal for the match. Daff was battling hard in the ruck and Terlich was starting to get on top in the clearances, getting the footy going our way. Stock and Riordan were starting to work their way into the match and suddenly the forward line had overcome the opposition’s tight defence. Fishy fought back with a goal of their own before Stock put his name in the book and gave the Island side plenty of confidence going into the final term.

3q-time scores:
Phillip Island 2.8.20
Fish Creek 4.8.32

Although the Island were behind on the scoreboard, the Island felt they were spending more time with the ball in their hands but needed to use it to their advantage. The Bulldogs got off to a flyer in the last term with S.Docherty slotting a team-lifting goal from a tight angle to cut back the margin. But once again, Fishy had the answer and quickly replied with a goal of their own, after a mishap in the middle. The crowd was now at full voice and the intensity was high. The Island could sense they were on top and continued to attack with smart football. Fast ball movement from the midfield saw a hard running Robinson kick a much needed goal to be within a goal. The game was now up for grabs and two behinds in succession cut the lead to four points. Despite the fighting spirit shown by the Bulldogs in the last quarter, the home side managed to hold on and give Phillip Island their first defeat for the season. It was a disappointing finish to an unusual game of football, but Coach Beaumont felt there were many positives to take out of this loss. Next week the side faces DWWWW in another long trip to the Alberton West Oval.

Phillip Island 4.11-35 def by Fish Creek 5.10-40

Phillip Island
Goal Kickers: S. Docherty , J. Docherty , J. Robinson , A. Stock
Best Players: C. Terlich, J. Docherty, S. Docherty, J. Weston, S. Riordan, S. Murdoch

Fish Creek
Goal Kickers: S. Smith 2, B. Anderson , C. Park , C. Graham
Best Players: T. Manne, J. Staley, B. Anderson, C. Graham, L. Park, D. Cooper