By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE BERWICK Miners’ gridiron side will look to bounce back this weekend from a horror loss when they host the old enemy Croydon Rangers at Rawling Field on Sunday.
The Miners were disappointingly shut out 14-0 in their clash with the Bendigo Dragons, who are just off promotion from Division 2 into the top tier.
And Berwick coach Mark Petana left his men under no illusions about what he thought of the performance.
“It was really a game we should have won,” he said.
“The boys were a bit flat but I think we were also a bit intimidated by the size and speed of the guys on their defense.”
It’s an old cliche, but it seems a fitting one – the Miners’ offense just didn’t come to play.
“It took a little while for our boys to wake up, but some of those refs calls didn’t help,” Petana said.
But there is plenty of light at the end of the tunnel. The Miners are only two points behind the Dragons and the Croydon Rangers in first division’s A Conference, and the side got plenty out of its young brigade on the weekend.
“Mike Peato, our middle linebacker, stopped everything up the middle,” Petana said.
“Ethan Marsters – who is a rookie cornerback – made some good plays, and our free safety Nick Pontil played well too.
“We just need to improve offensively, particularly with our ball movement.
“The offensive line needs to work as one – that’s our biggest thing.
“There’s only so much a defense can do in a game – you need to be able to score.”
The Miners host the old enemy Croydon this Sunday from 1.30pm at Rawling Field in Endeavour Hills.
Both the Miners and Rangers are young, rebuilding teams and Petana said the clash should show his group “where we stack up”.
Rawling Field is at Sydney Pargeter Reserve on Power Road in Endeavour Hills.
