Poor kicking and equally poor decision-making cost Sunbury Lions dearly in a loss to East Point in the Ballarat Football League on Saturday.
Looking to cement their spot in the top two, the Lions were left to rue missed opportunities which allowed East Point to steal the 12.9 (81) – 10.17 (77) win.
The Lions had the best of it early at Clarke Oval and led by as many as 18 points in the first half.
The second half was a tale of two very different quarters, the Kangaroos kicking goals while the Lions missed,
In the end, it cost the Lions the game and handed them their third loss of the season.
Lions coach Rick Horwood described the game as “one that got away”, with his players’ performance “poor”.
“You’re not going to win many games kicking 2.12 in the second half,” he said.
“Our execution by foot was really poor. It was a disappointing result. If we’d kicked one more goal, we’d have won.
“It wasn’t that they won the game; we lost the game. It’s a hard pill to swallow as we had so many opportunities.”
Horwood said while goalkicking was poor, delivery into the forward 50 was equally bad.
“Our ball transition was terrible between the 50s. We had 38 turnovers heading into our forward 50. Our field kicking was atrocious.
“When we were getting shots at goal, they were being taken in the right spot. In the last 10 minutes, we had players running into open goal and hitting the post.”
Horwood said the ruck dual between David Kovacevic and Paul Koderenko was one of the day’s highlights.
Kovacevic, skipper Andrew Duhau, midfielder Alik Magin and Josh Guthrie were the Lions’ best players.
The coach said it was pleasing to see Guthrie play his first game in the seniors this year, and he was impressed with the form of Corey Hansen.
The loss dragged the Lions from second to fourth on the ladder.
They are now one of four teams on 28 points. Another, North Ballarat City, takes on the Lions in Ballarat this week.
“You have to beat the sides around you on the ladder,” Horwood said. “We dropped a game against a team below us, which was disappointing. It’s these games that will decide where you finish at the end of the year.”
The Lions’ A-grade netballers had a tough day, losing 41-25 to East Point.
A slow start proved to be the Lions’ downfall … they trailed 12-3 and 22-9 at stages of the first half.
The Lions sit fourth on the ladder.
