There was little to smile about for Berwick Miners quarterback Sam Walker in his team’s 53-6 loss to the Western Crusaders in Footscray on Sunday. 18981By Marc McGowan
ABYSMAL. Disappointing. A dog of a day.
That was how Berwick Miners head coach Darren Shaw summed up his side’s pitiful performance against the Western Crusaders at Henry Turner Reserve, Footscray, on Sunday.
The Gridiron Victoria contest was over at half-time before ultimately finishing in a landslide 53-6 result in favour of the Crusaders.
Only 16-year-old Miners rookie sensation Nick Vlad escaped Shaw’s wrath.
“The positive was the performance of our young fella Nick Vlad – he was our only bright spark,” he said.
“He played well all day. He made some good catches and had some good runs.”
Berwick’s sole touchdown came in the first quarter through a barnstorming Jonathan Leota run after an interception gave it strong field position.
But the afternoon went downhill from there, culminating in a 36-6 deficit at the long break.
The insipid display was all the more surprising given the Miners had gone within a touchdown of defeating the competition’s top two sides in the previous two rounds.
“There are no excuses; we were just abysmal and we did nothing right,” Shaw said.
“We tried to change tactics, etcetera, but nothing worked on the day. We were out-played and out-coached.”
Shaw has put the onus on his players to work hard at training this week in the lead-up to the Miners’ do-or-die match-up with the Bay City Buccaneers at Springfield Reserve, Croydon, on Sunday at 2pm.
“We’ll see what character the players have now,” he said.
“Sunday’s game is going to be won at training on Tuesday and Thursday night and it’s up to the players.
“They can secure fourth this week or if they lose to (the Buccaneers) they will take our spot and we’re out of the finals.”
Berwick will have to strive for victory without Martin Zika and Ben Hutchinson, who have both had to leave the club due to work commitments.
