By Marcus Uhe
A second quarter to forget was costly for Officer in its opening hit out of the Outer East Football Netball season, going down to Woori Yallock by 35 points at home.
The Tigers slammed six goals on the board to Officer’s three, kicking away to a 26-point lead midway through the period and holding the Kangaroos at a safe distance for the remainder of the contest.
Officer cut the lead to 20 points on a handful of occasions but were unable to make significant inroads, the final score reading 9.2 51 to 14.7 91.
Officer coach Daniel Charles said it was a combination of a lack of concentration and players not adhering to the game plan that cost his side, as last season’s preliminary finalist made them pay.
“Their second quarter really hurt us, we went away from what we were trying to do,” Charles said.
“Like any game plan, if you don’t have everyone on board doing it, it leaves too many holes and too many areas for things to go wrong.
“I think we just had not enough people playing their roles in the second quarter.
“When you’ve got people who have played a certain way for so long, and you try to change it, when people get tired or under pressure, they normally revert back to what they’ve always done.
“We’re just trying to break that mentality.”
Despite the result, Charles was pleased with his side’s execution against one of the competition’s benchmarks.
Woori Yallock was one of the final three sides remaining in the last two years and is expected to challenge Wandin as a threat to the premiership once again.
A hit out against a side like that in the opening week will give the ‘Roos plenty to ponder in the coming weeks as they continue their journey in Premier Division.
“It shows us where we’re at, what the competition’s like, that we’re not far away but we can’t afford to make silly mistakes like we did,” Charles said.
“It was a good indicator of where we’re at and where we need to be.
“We felt like we were good enough to win, but some skill errors and decision making, you can’t allow silly mistakes and easy turnovers to a quality side like that and not expect them to make you pay.
“I felt the way we played and moved, I thought we held our own with our game style and the way we played.
“There were a couple of blokes that might have found the jump in speed a bit daunting but some of our young blokes will be better for it.”
Jake Gains and Brenton Hillard delivered on preseason expectation as two standouts for Officer, with Mark Seedsman kicked four as the most dangerous forward in blue and white.
Woori Yallock key forward Taylor Gibson kicked eight to take an early lead in the leading goal kicker race.
Officer heads to Mt Evelyn next week to tackle the Rovers.
