Final term flop proves costly

Monday, July 29
TRAVIS LEWIS


THE Geelong Falcons woes continued after going down to bottom-placed side Gippsland Power by 40 points at Werribee on Saturday.

Gippsland led for most of the day with the Falcons within reach, trailing by just eight points at three-quarter time.

But the Power stepped up a gear after the last break, kicking six goals to win 18.15 (123) to Geelong's 12.11 (83).

Geelong missed the services of key ballgetters James Allan, Tim Callan and Pat Travers who were all sidelined with injury.

Falcons coach Damien Christensen said he was disappointed with the final term performance.

``The game was in the balance all day,'' he said.

``But we didn't have a bench going into the last quarter and the scores just got blown out in the end, but that's footy.

``The floodgates opened up and the kids dropped their heads which was the most disappointing part, they let the score blow out and that shouldn't have happened.''

Ruck rover Josh Rudd, from St Joseph's, earned Geelong's best on ground honours after gathering 41 possessions.

South Warrnambool's Brent Moloney kicked two goals during another standout effort.

Newtown's Jarrod Kayler-Thompson and Colac's Jake Carmody each scored three majors for the Falcons but their solid work up forward wasn't enough to get Geelong over the line.

South Barwon's Mark Blake was another top performer after an impressive showing in the ruck, which included 20 handballs, while Newtown's Nathan Braddock continued his consistency on the wing.

Christensen said while finals were no longer a realistic option there were still a number of positives that could be drawn for the rest of the season.

``We've got to be realistic about our season, it hasn't been the greatest, we've only won four games,'' he said.

``But we've still got a lot of positives.

``I know we've lost and that's disappointing but I think there's been a lot of improvement in individual players.

``We'll just try and finish the season off with some wins. Regardless of whether or not we play in the finals we hope we can finish the season off on a positive note.''

The Falcons next TAC Cup match is against the Oakleigh Chargers at Skilled Stadium on Sunday, August 11 from 1pm.