ROUND 10 - SENIOR DEVELOPMENT MATCH REPORT

After a disappointing fortnight, where the Peel Development side suffered 2 heavy defeats, the team made their way to Lathlain Park to take on Perth.

It was a fairly even first quarter where Peel enjoyed the run of play for the first 10 minutes but couldn’t convert it on the scoreboard. Key forward Nic Merritt was looking dangerous and we were on top around the stoppages. Our early ascendancy was halted by some poor ball use, particularly out of defence, and Perth took full toll. Trailing by 2 goals at quarter time, we once again had a positive start in the 2nd quarter, closing the gap with another goal to Merritt.

Jackson Capurso was providing plenty of run off the half back line while Michael Humble, Brayden Lawler and Michael Tassone were giving us a slight advantage in the middle. Some poor defensive lapses allowed late goals to Perth and we went into half time 4 goals down.

The boys pushed hard in the 3rd to close the gap but couldn’t quite take advantage of some scoring opportunities and the the Demons kicked away for the win. It was disappointing the margin blew out in the end as it didn’t reflect the effort. We won most of our key indicators but poor ball use and defensive lapses meant we couldn’t take full advantage. These are 2 areas we will be focusing heavily on in the coming weeks.

Solid contributors on the day included Jackson Capurso who use his speed to provide some drive from defence, Nic Merritt who competed hard up forward but didn’t quite finish his hard work, Josh Mathers who had a strong battle against competition leading goal kicker, Callum Papertalk and Luke Strnadica, who again gave the mids first look but provided some options around the ground.

We head into the state bye in equal 5th, having now played every team at least once. There is a strong focus from the group to get better and work on improving across the second half of the season.

Senior Development Coach - Brad Dodd