By Tyler Lewis
“I can’t say I am batting badly, I’m not batting long enough to be batting badly.”
While it’s a vastly different code, the words of former Australian Test cricket captain Greg Chappell are applicable to Clint Evans and his Berwick outfit.
Because quite frankly… the Wickers aren’t playing bad footy.
But with the cut-throat nature of the Eastern Football Netball League’s (EFNL) top-flight, Saturday’s 10.9 (69) to 13.11 (89) loss to Norwood leaves Berwick facing a do-or-die contest with North Ringwood this weekend.
For the second successive week the Wickers won the first and final stanzas, leaving the middle periods of the game to account for where the game was lost.
“Not heaps, to be honest… it was probably 15 minutes in the second where they got away,” Evans explained, as to what his side did wrong in the second and third quarters.
“In the third we hit the lead, kicked the first three or four goals and then just our decision making, turning the ball over in the middle of the ground moving forward.
“They’ve gone bang, bang, bang, our turnover and disposal was just horrendous on the weekend, we gave them six goals and when you do that against a good side, they capitalise.”
While the reality may be that the Wickers are playing decent footy, the 0-1-6 ledger is a tough pill to swallow for a young list.
Evans has been resilient and patient throughout the season, but admits he was a bit harder on his boys on Saturday, after fundamentals ultimately led to the loss.
“I was probably a bit blunter on the weekend than I have been, I just told them that they can’t keep doing it,” he said.
“Five of the seven games we have been in it up to our ears, the first few weeks we were missing easy goals, but the last few weeks its missing targets, 15 metres not under pressure, it was terrible.
“For all the play we had, there was no excuse for it on the weekend.
“The thing I love about coaching them is that they have a crack, every side that comes up against us will walk away going ‘gee they’re a tough side Berwick’.
“They have a dip, we just don’t settle enough when we should, our disposal has to be better, because these good teams just murder you once you turn the ball over.
“Our pressure is fantastic; we just do all the hard work, but then give it up by missing easy targets by hand or foot.
“80 per cent we do right, it’s just that last little bit we need to get better. I am happy with how we’re playing, we’ve been in every game but maybe two, those we have played top sides.”
A round-five draw against Blackburn has the Wickers placed two points adrift of North Ringwood.
This week the Wickers will travel to Quambee Reserve to take on the Saints, in a clash that will go a long way in determining which side will be fighting relegation after the Queen’s Birthday bye.
“We have to for the position we’re in – we have to win,” Evans said.
“It’ll be their (North Ringwood) mid-year grand final as well, if we win we get a buffer on them and we think we can compete against other sides, but if we lose and it puts us on the bottom, then we do have to beat sides above us.
“On their home deck, it’ll be a shitty day again, conditions that don’t suit us massively, but we have to go down and know the first 15 minutes we have to be on.
“If we’re not, and in those conditions, find ourselves three or four goals down, it’s going to be very hard to peg back.”
LADDER: Rowville 28, Balwyn 20, Noble Park 20, Doncaster East 20, South Croydon 20, Vermont 20, Norwood 12, Blackburn 10, Park Orchards 8, Doncaster 8, Berwick 2, North Ringwood 0.
TOP-FIVE GOAL-KICKERS: C Haley (Balwyn) 30, J Wilsen (South Croydon) 23, J Lisle (Balwyn) 19, K Viccars (Doncaster) 19, H Money (Berwick) 18.
FIXTURE – ROUND 8: North Ringwood v Berwick, Rowville v Doncaster, Park Orchards v Doncaster East, Blackburn v Norwood, Vermont v South Croydon, Noble Park v Balwyn (11 June).
