Chaos 0 Gorge 0

A much, much improved performance today and a good way to end the first part of the season. I think it has a lot to do with how hard each of you are working (and running) in practice. Straight from the kick-off we had the Gorge goal under pressure and we kept up that pace (or tempo) for most of the game. This is a result of our fitness workouts on Monday.

In terms of the three phases of the game, when they had possession our shape was pretty good most and I thought we were very quick to shut down the player with the ball. We've been doing far too much standing and watching lately but today we got to the ball before or at the same time as our opponent almost every time - including off their throw-ins.

When neither team had possession I think we did a better job of anticipating where the ball was going to drop and positioning our bodies for the tackle. We were stronger in our defensive third than the attacking third, but it was still far better than recent performances against Bays and Peninsula.

When we had possession I thought we looked pretty good. We passed the ball well, our vision was pretty good and our forwards did a good job of holding the ball and creating good scoring chances. Unfortunately our final shot was too often straight at the keeper, but part of that came down to Gorge defence that did a pretty good of shutting down the shooting channels (particularly their #4). And of course we hit the posts twice and clanged a beautiful free kick off the cross bar.

So after a couple of below-par outings it would seem we've regained our focus and the desire to compete. Put simply when we play like we did today we will be a handful for anyone.

Reminder that we are still practicing throughout the Christmas Break. So unless you have a good excuse (like Lucy, who is going Waltzing Matilda!) Doug and Stephen will see you Monday @ 5:30pm.