When the margin is 100 points at the end of the game, you would think that it was a one-sided affair.
But this wasn’t the case between Sunbury and Sebastopol in their Ballarat Football League match. The Lions won 19.18 (132) – 4.8 (32), and could have won by a lot more if not for inaccurate kicking in front of goal. Coach Rick Horwood said the tally didn’t reflect the game.
“It was a hard-fought game and didn’t reflect the effort from Sebastopol. They are very well coached, very disciplined and fierce at the ball and the man. You can learn a lot from them about commitment and never giving up.
“There was little patches of the game we broke open, and that was the difference.”
Horwood said when his side controlled the game, they didn’t get rewards for their efforts, and not for the first time this season.
“We were 3.7 in the first quarter; 7.3 would have been nice, and some of those shots weren’t that hard,” Horwood said.
One of the main culprits was Ben Said on his return to the side.
“He kicked 8.8 and should have had at least 10 goals. He was fairly dominant,” Horwood said.
While Said returned, the Lions’ injury curse continued. It lost Jesse Flannery in the first quarter with an ankle injury, Adam Short with a calf injury, and Jack Sheahan knocked his hip in the second quarter.
“Josh Burgess was a late withdrawal and Hay missed again. Xavier Linton, who was set to return, got injured again at training,” Horwood said.
While it may not have been an ideal win, the percentage gained is important in the Lions’ fight to make finals; the side is back in the top six.
“If you do the ladder predictor … there’s three teams that finish on the same points, if things go the way people think they should.”
