SOUTH Rovers coach Nathan Isles says the Lions played better in Saturday’s loss to Nirranda than they did in their two wins prior.
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The Lions took the challenge up to the Blues in what was a tough and bruising affair for the better part of three-and-a-half quarters, before Nirranda powered home to win 14.8 (92) to 9.9 (63) at Walter Oval.
But Isles said the effort of his charges was a better indication of what they could produce in the weeks and months to come than the previous two weeks.
“I know we lost, but I don’t think the score really gave it justice,” he said.
“I thought it was relatively even all day.
“We’ve won the last two weeks and haven’t played our best; we are much happier with the way we played (Saturday).”
Trailing by 11 points heading into the second half, South Rovers wasn’t able to get on top in the third term, despite having the wind advantage.
Nirranda repeatedly launched the ball forward in the term, but a stoic performance by South Rovers’ defenders repelled their advances, and helped reduce the margin to just three at the final break.
“We had three or four of our defenders in our best players,” Isles said.
“That pressure did keep coming, and that’s probably an area we’ve really struggled with.”
The Blues were inspired by youngster Alix Lane, who was substituted into the game with 10 minutes to go and kicked two goals.
Nirranda coach Shane Threlfall said the match was a tough contest all day, with the third-placed Blues “fortunate” to get the win.
“In the last quarter, I think some of our big players started to take some marks,” he said.
“We started to control it in the air a bit more.”
When the ball came to ground in the forward line, Lane was ready to pounce, crumbing two goals.
Jack Spokes led the charge through the midfield and pushed forward to boot four majors for the Blues in a best-on-ground performance.
“He was in everything and really did well through the midfield and was able to push forward and kick some goals,” Threlfall said.
Peter McDowall also impacted on the scoreboard, kicking three goals.
Nathan Murphy was South Rovers’ best for the second week in a row, providing a handy target but also winning plenty of the footy around stoppages.
