Yarraville-Seddon Eagles had it all its own way for 30 minutes until the Manor Lakes turned up the blowtorch on last Saturday’s game.
The Storm choked the Eagles running game after quarter-time, forced errors and turning up the momentum of the game to pile on 11 of the last 17 goals.
The 10-point Storm win was an early-season cracker in the Western Region Football League division 2 round.
Eagles’ coach Dean Callaway gave credit where it was due to his opposition but admitted his side helped in their own demise.
“We kicked six goals to two in the first quarter, four goals up at quarter-time, and we sort of just got in our comfort zone and thought it was going to happen,” he told Star Weekly.
“We didn’t work hard enough and let them back in the game, and it was even at half-time. Our decision-making was poor at times and when we overused the footy they capitalised.
“To their credit, they put the pressure on us and played a good brand of footy and we didn’t withstand the pressure.”
With the absence of five key players, Yarraville-Seddon’s lack of taller options in defence and attack was exposed, forcing Callaway into playing some of his players out of position as stop-gap measures.
The Eagles got multiple goals out of Sam Boyce (four) and Chris Topalidis (three), while Gordon Hillsdon chimed in with three goals from the midfield, but it was a bit too predictable going forward.
The good news for the Eagles is there will be an influx of five starting players for the Anzac Day trip to Glenorden, including the return of sons of guns – Scott Krakouer, son of Phil, and Jason Harmes, son of Wayne.
“They’re both half forward flankers who run and carry the footy; they’ve got an amazing ability to read the game well and are good overhead,” Callaway said. “They can really power, have got great ground speed and can deliver the footy and take marks.
“They’re fairly tall guys, too, which we probably lacked down back; a couple more talls up front will give us four targets instead of two.”
Callaway is not hitting the panic button yet but, with no wins in two games, there is some urgency for Yarraville-Seddon to keep up.
“There are no negative vibes, it’s just a matter of working through the tough times and getting the fundamentals right,” Callaway said.
Meanwhile, West Footscray was tested early by Sunshine Heights before slamming on 21 goals to four after half-time to win by 132 points.
Roosters forwards Hayden Bray (seven goals), Munir El Houli (six) and Damien Yze (five) had the goal umpires working overtime.
North Footscray stormed home with seven last quarter goals to two to beat Glenorden by 51 points. Kaine Williams shone with six goals.
