Hills fall at Footscray’s feet

By Justin Robertson
FOR the third time this season, Endeavour Hills has not been able to put a hitch in Footscray’s giddy up.
The past two encounters have been tight and bruising. On Saturday at Footscray, the Hills were smashed 23-3 by a team undefeated with one round remaining.
Despondent Hills coach Archie Kennedy said his team simply could not keep the ball in their possession.
“To be able to score, you need to have control of the ball,” he said. “We just didn’t have enough of the ball in the first half.”
Footscray came out blazing and the Hills became spectators.
Kennedy said, during the first 20 minutes of play, the Hills had control of the ball for one minute, while Footscray set up their win with 19 minutes of possession.
“We wanted to perform, but it just didn’t pan out that way unfortunately,” Kennedy said.
“I think the players were a bit nervous early on and just made some crucial mistakes – mistakes we haven’t been making all year.”
First half turn overs and simple errors brought about by finals-like pressure saw the Hills cough the ball up time and time again resulting in a huge half time deficit of 17-0.
Despite losing the second half 6-3, the Hills were playing for pride and put in a stronger performance.
“We played a lot better in the second half, but by then the game was well and truly over, he said.
“I wasn’t too hard on the boys during the break because we usually come home and finish strong.”
With one game remaining in the season, the Hills will take on Geelong before preparing themselves for the first semi-final against Footscray, should they finish in second place.
“Hopefully, we’ll have a good win this weekend and I’m pretty sure we’ll wrap up second place,” Kennedy said.
“Then, we’ll have another go at Footscray, but for now our focus is on Geelong.”