Rnd 4 - West v North @ City Mazda Stadium (Fri N 19/4)

Please take note that this game starts at 7.10 pm and not 7.40pm as stated in the Advertiser today.

Going for the Bloods to get up at home.

well i worked late, got to the ground on 7pm & a huge line up to get in & i thought the 2 for 1 promotion is working & when inside it looked about 3,500 there, when i finally got inside the ground 12 minutes had elapsed & Westies were 2.1 t 0.1 for the rest of that quarter Westies seemed the better & more dangerous team, after quarter time North looked clearly the better team but wayward shots & good defence kept Westies in font & then in touch, into the last both teams missed 'easy' shots at goal & missed & after North missed 2 shots in a row, West appeared to lift in intensity & had the ball in their forward line for the majority of the last 8 minutes, was an entertaining yet Scrappy game & both sides gave their all, West get the points but i thought North were the better team throughout the 3 & 1/2 quarters i saw, i've only seen North this year once (tonight) & they have a more discipline defence aspect to their game, they build a wall across half back trying to make it hard to clear the ball out yet when they have the ball North run & attack like they always do, a good mixture of attacking & defending footy

I thought that the poor field kicking of the two usual suspects for North was very costly tonight. I won't name names but suffice to say the two players wear the only two guernsey numbers that have ever been "retired" in North's history.

North's forward's despite Westies flood looked more dangerous but I thought Westies tackling was just marginally superior to North and probably was the factor that won the match in the end.

A tight hard match which was always entertaining because of the closeness and hardness of the match.

So West are top thanks to the Eagles

I suppose it's a sign of a good side to win a match like this. West seemed the better side in the first quarter and were then outplayed intil about 8 minutes to go.

IMO, they won for three reasons. Firstly, the old inaccuracy theme. Secondly. west's character to have the footy in attack for the last 5 or 10 minutes after looking 'gone' and lastly, a passage of play late in the second quarter. This was a really well constructed goal after North had locked the ball in their attack for a long period.

Both sides have been playing an open game, but the pressure was intense and West's skills deserted them and they fell back into old habits, missing targets and therefore being unable to run the ball.

No doubt that West pinched it.

Does anyone know the crowd figure? Looked to be around 4000. A mate who arrived late said he had to queue up behind 30 or so others to get in.

Edit: Just saw Big Phil's post under another topic. Attendance was 3175. Find that hard to believe, seemed a lot more.

Oracle wrote:Does anyone know the crowd figure? Looked to be around 4000. A mate who arrived late said he had to queue up behind 30 or so others to get in.

They said 3,175 but it did seem more than that. On the radio they estimated at 5,000. I thought that was a bit over, but I did think that it was 4,000. I didn't get into the game until about the 15 minute mark. There was certainly more than 30 in the lineup to get into the ground at that stage. There was only one gate open. I think that for night games against the better drawing sides, currently Norwood, Glenelg, North and Central they should have the gate behind the Southern goals open. It would also alleviate some of the parking pressure. I had to park on Brooker terrace which is a fair walk for a bone lazy person like me. My only other whinge is that 7:10 p.m. is just a bit early to start a Friday night match.

Despite being disappointed with the result I thought it was a great night out. I thought that the pressure put on by both sides, but particularly Westies was outstanding. The fact that there was never more than a kick in it from two minutes into the second half until the end kept me enthralled and both sides showed enough that given a fair run with injuries they should be around the place come finals time. The thing that impressed me most about West were their big key defenders. We all know Ferguson and Tippett who played to their normal high standard but the third defender, is it Mangan was equally impressive. None of Johnston, Stewart and Langford dominated in their air like they have been doing. The Westies defenders in the main spoilt them decisively at almost every opportunity.

Despite the loss that result elevates North in my ratings. I thought they would rely heavily on Johnston Stewart and Langford. But west more than most with Tippett and Ferguson could keep them in check. The fact that those three were well held and North still nearly won is a great sign for the Roosters.

waddayamean wrote:

Big Phil wrote:

waddayamean wrote:This should be a very entertaining game..........BUT ......I wouldn't be surprised if West revert to a defensive game against a more attacking team. I hope not.

It will be interesting to see how long the Bloods sustain their more attacking focused game plan. North are pretty good defensively and have pretty potent forwards. West have a solid back half as well, so this will be a real quality clash...

Would love to see Nathan Gordon and Travis Tuck line up on each other...

Why ? You said my comment was interesting in another post ? I'm am bit lost. Agree in part with me yet do the same with others ?

I think Collins is quite smart . Why would he change a winning formula ? Obviously it means he has 2 ways to play which is great from Wests point of view. Like I said , I hope they don't but if they do and win...... good coaching. You have to be one step ahead.

The score line seems to reflect my initial comment .

I think the scoreline reflects what rig has said, it was a tough, presre game.

Both sides are playing attacking football this season, last night they both applied extra pressure.

I agree with Scrunch also. In a strange way, I was more impressed with North last night than in some of their wins against us. I think Francou is adding some toughness and is formulating a game plan that will stand up under finals pressure.

i forgot to mention this & ask a question as well from last night

1, what did Joe Anderson do last night ? that had West players letting him know about it at every opportunity they had

2, I thought Ryan Fergusons' late tackle won West the match, sadly he couldn't take the kick & Ben Mcreadie missed but it did draw the teams level, i think Ferguson would have nailed it & then a left foot snap later put them that point up but i believe had Ferguson not stopped the North player (couldn't see who it was) from running out of defence North would have probably won

The late behind from a set shot was a better result than a goal because it kept the ball down West's end. North would have had a red hot go at scoring a goal in reply from a centre bounce.

Oracle wrote:The late behind from a set shot was a better result than a goal because it kept the ball down West's end. North would have had a red hot go at scoring a goal in reply from a centre bounce.

really ? what if the siren had sounded before either team had a chance to score, would it have been a better result then ?, personally i'd rather my team kick the goal, get 5 points up & have faith they can defend & pressurize their opponents to not scoring & perhaps even kick another goal, imho safety first in footy doesn't work, well it doesn't at Glenelg because every week those little safe short passes we do end up going to the opposition & they score & usually score goals

No team would deliberately kick a behind instead of a goal. But I think most teams would consider it easier to score a quick goal from the centre bounce than a kick-in at fullback.

With you Bayman - Goal it and follow up with another but it worked last night for us anyway