Harper Sercombe
Bacchus Marsh has recorded one of the upsets of the season in the Ballarat Football League.
The Cobra’s threw a spanner into the works of the Sunbury Lions’ hopes of playing finals, creating a mouth watering final round of the season with three teams fighting for two finals spots.
The Lions seemed to be in control of the game from the outset, taking a 19 point lead into half time. The Cobras started to work their way into the game, cutting the lead to 14 points at three quarter time.
In the final term the Cobras came out firing, booting five straight goals to give the 11.13 (79)-12.9 (81) win.
Cobras’ coach Jason Williams said the three quarter time message was the same it has been all year.
“Just play with courage and confidence,” he said.
“We constantly talk about our identity being courage and discipline, so it was just about continuing to play with courage, continuing to be disciplined.
“We also talked about being really composed with the ball.”
While on paper the result seemed to be an upset, internally the Cobras were confident. A young side, the Cobras have shown improvement throughout the season.
“We knew we were building to this result,” Williams said.
“We expected to be in the contest and it was just a matter of executing.”
Alex Porter, Luke Goetz and Tyson Shea were named their best, while Cody Salmon was the star up forward with three goals.
With finals off the cards for the Cobras, Williams said he hasn’t turned his focus to the off season just yet with plenty still to play for in 2023. The Cobras sit in eighth spot with five wins for the season.
“Our focus is to beat Ballarat,” Williams said.
“We set out a target four weeks ago to win the last four weeks of the year, so all we’re thinking about is beating Ballarat.”
After the bye in round 14, the Cobras have had three really strong wins in a row. The first was a 106 point win against the winless Melton South. Last week it was a 92 point victory against Lake Wendouree.
Now with the ninth placed Ballarat to come, their goal is very achievable.
While happy, Williams said there are some areas of the team’s game that will need tinkering in the off season, through recruiting and internal development.
“I think we need a key defender,” he said. “Try and get them to the club… but they’re the priorities.”
Although in attack Williams seems content with what he has to work with, including the teams leading goal scorer Jake Owen.
“I think our forward line can be super, super exciting,” he said.
Elsewhere, Melton South lost to Redan 34.14 (218)-4.7 (31), while Darley beat Melton in the top of the table clash, 10.10 (70)-7.7 (49).
