ROUND 11 - THUNDER EFFORT GOOD BUT NO WIN

ROUND 11 –THUNDER EFFORT GOOD BUT NO WIN

Ladder leaders Subiaco took home the four points this week against Peel, securing their win just minutes out from the final siren.

Peel came into this round as underdogs in fifth spot on the ladder compared to the Lions who sit on top with only one loss this season.

thunders effort was good in the first quarter with the team able to keep up with the visitors and maintain a margin of just 3 points.

At the end of the first quarter Subiaco were leading by 22 points (3,4) compared to the Thunders 19 (3,1)

“I thought we started really well in the first quarter but our second quarter really let us down in terms of our attack on the ball,” AFL draft pick Sam Collins said.

“Thunder had got their heads around the competition early in pre-game preparations and didn’t think that Subiaco being ladder leaders had affected the team.  We knew they were in really good form coming in, Shep mentioned it pretty early on in the week so we got our minds around that early on and just came out to play our brand of football.” Collins said.

Peel player Ben Hancock came away from the game with 14 disposals, 5 tackles and a goal under his belt.  Hancock said “He took positives and negatives from the match. “

“Yeah bit of mixed emotions, really disappointing to get in front in those last minutes and then to give an easy stoppage like that is pretty disappointing,” he said

“It’s good to get that fight back, I mean, we were down by 20 odd points at half time.  I guess the top side was really good, so you can take positives and negatives out of it but at the end of the day a loss is a loss so you’ve just got to take it.”

The second quarter lked pressure from the Peel side with the visitors driving up the margin to 27 points from a meagre 3 in the first quarter.

A goal after the half time siren from Traye Bennell saw the margin reduced to 21 points at half time.

The team came back from the half time break with a renewed focus on the game.

Defender Sam Collins said “They were able to fight back in the second half by increasing the pressure on Subiaco.”

Hancock agreed that pressure was important but that hitting the scoreboard was important as well.

“You want to defend, stop your goals but you also want to attack and get on the scoreboard. Just got to run both ways, footy is not just about attack it’s about defending as well.”

A strong third quarter for the Thunder saw Lawler, Dawson and Jetta kick a goal a piece in a five minute period with the progress not slowing into the fourth.

Peel snagged the lead in the final minutes of the game with Thunder fans rejoicing at what looked like a last minute win for the underdogs.

Unfortunately for the Thunder they were unable to seal the deal and a last minute reply from Subiaco saw Thunder fall short.

Collins said “The team thought they had it in the bag but some poor choices with the ball had allowed Subiaco to come back with a goal to take a 3 point lead”.

“It was a great game to be a part of and the boys had a lot of belief in our ability to come back and fight through that deficit that we had and I thought we did that well but obviously we let ourselves fall short in the end.”

Hancock said “The team had showed resilience and determination in their second half”.

“Just in that second quarter we lost a little bit of momentum, around our pressure and stoppages especially, pretty sloppy so to come back and fight like that showed real determination and resilience.” he said.

Josh Deluca’s performance this week with 25 disposals, 5 marks and 7 tackles didn't go unnoticed by Hancock who praised his performance.

“I though Josh Deluca through the gaps was pretty good, some real surge through the forward line which was good,”

“I guess we’ve built a bit of a rivalry with them especially from the two games last year and the grand final as well but they’re always a good challenge for us and hopefully next time we can get the chocolates.”

The Thunder will play away next Saturday against South Fremantle at the Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

Colts: 9am Reserves: 11.30am League: 2.15pm

Written by:  Keely Liron