By Tyler Lewis
Berwick has got off the mark in extraordinary fashion.
The Wickers secured their first points of the Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL) with a draw against Blackburn.
And while going from zero points to two is like a cricketer getting off the mark with an edge through the vacant third slip region, there were excellent signs for this young Wickers group.
After a week in which coach Clint Evans described as the flattest he had been after a game of footy, the Wickers coach was full of praise for his side, who competed – and should’ve beaten – a side that is pushing for finals.
“The boys played well, we were in the contest all day and we were probably unfortunate in the end – they kicked a goal with 30 seconds to go… we just couldn’t hold on,” he said.
“We fought really hard, it could’ve gone either way – we had it in our grasp but we couldn’t hold on.
“I suppose it was a little win for us, we would’ve loved to win but where we’re at and what we’re going through – you know a draw probably isn’t a bad result for us.
“We have been playing alright, just the fundamentals and little things have let us down, but this week, there were a couple things we want to do differently but, the things we worked on we did better during the game.”
Harrison Money was at his brilliant best, booting six of the Wickers 12 goals.
Money’s goal tally is now up to 13 for the season and the exciting forward has fired in each of his five matches so far.
Evans is confident with better ball use, and Tim Gunn alongside him; more goals are coming for his live-wire.
“On Saturday he was fantastic,” he said.
“He has been really good and he is in the leadership group now, we probably don’t help him with our ball movement and the way we use it.
“He’s always two on one so on the weekend, our delivery of the ball was a lot better and we had a lot of one on ones with him.
“One on one for his size he hardly gets beaten… especially with Tim Gunn back in the side, with those two guys I am pretty confident when we come in.
“We probably aren’t going to get it in our forward 50 as much as other sides, but we have to make sure when we do we score and on the weekend we did that.”
The Wickers used the wind in the final term to kick four goals to two, but it wasn’t enough to collect maximum points, with the scoreboard reading 12.7 (79) apiece at the final siren.
