WEST Footscray overcame a sluggish start and a fired up opponent in North Sunshine to record an 85-point win in the Western Region Football League division 2 on Saturday.
The Roosters didn’t have it all their own way, leading at the half-time break by just two points. But a harder, more switched on team came out in the second half, piling on 14 goals to two from a whopping 26 scoring shots to three.
Roosters coach Rohan Mackenzie told the Weekly it took a verbal spray at the main break to get his players’ heads in the game.
“Their attack on the footy was better than ours and their work rate was a bit better,” he said.
“We had plenty of the footy in that first half, but we were turning the ball over and making silly mistakes, which we cut out in the second half and got our game going.
“After a rocket at half-time, my boys responded, but the first half they really brought it to us.”
Moving Jadyn Trowsdale to inside forward 50 was a game changing move for the Roosters.
Trowsdale jagged five goals and compensated for a lack of effectiveness from the Roosters tall targets.
Jason King, booted four goals to form a dynamic small forward duo with Trowsdale.
‘‘Our tall guys gave us a target, but really weren’t clunking them that well,’’ Mackenzie said. ‘‘Our small guys were the ones that really got going.’’
The Roosters got plenty of drive out of the backline. The slingshot footy produced by Sam Ross and Josh Moore was a feature.
Just as important was Nick Nikolovski’s ability to plug up holes in defence and peel off his man to rebound out of the back half.
‘‘Our first half we were really stagnant, we weren’t moving well,’’ Mackenzie said.
‘‘In that second half, we started switching the ball and bringing the ball in board, and the run was coming from behind the footy.
‘‘They did their jobs and gave us plenty of run out of the backline.’’
Plagued with inconsistency as a byproduct of a tough draw, the Roosters will be hoping they can get more settled four-quarter efforts in the next three games against Sanctuary Lakes, Braybrook and Caroline Springs.
In other division 2 games, Braybrook claimed a 26-point win over Caroline Springs at the Town Centre Oval with Steven Pearce booting four goals.
Glenorden poleaxed Sanctuary Lakes by 135 points at Heathdale Oval with former AFL forward Kent Kingsley snagging 10 goals on debut.
Parkside led Albanvale a merry dance in a 78-point win at Henry Turner Reserve. Robert Ford kicked five.
Sunshine Heights had 65 scoring shots in a 199-point annihilation of Laverton Magpies at Ainsworth Reserve.
Wyndhamvale proved too strong for Manor Lakes in the first war of postcode 3024, cruising to a Devan Ellis-inspired 53-point win.
