Panthers out-played by Cougars in second half

Not a good day for the club with all three sides suffering defeats

Seniors

Despite a dour first-half arm wrestle, the Cougars were able to skip away in the second half with nine unanswered goals to walk away with a 14.13 (97) to 5.10 (40) win. The score of 5.10 being our lowest for the year by a long way.

Eltham’s loss was compounded by injuries to key pair Anton Woods and Jamie Smith. Woods limped off in the first quarter with a quad injury, whilst Smith was helped from the field after a centre bounce contest with severe ankle damage.

The injuries left the Panthers two rotations down for much of the second half, with the visitors unable to match Northcote Park’s run and intensity.

Eltham was far more competitive in the opening half and entered the first change with a slender two-point lead.

Beginning to assert itself on the contest, Eltham snared the first major after quarter time through James Kroussoratis to open up an eight-point buffer.

Both sides were sloppy going forward and missed targets, with Northcote Park unable to kick a major until they scored two in the shadows of half time.

Eltham continued to stick with Northcote Park after the restart as both sides traded goals, however Northcote Park quickly got on top and piled on goals in succession to lead by 25 points at the last change.

This trend continued in the last quarter with Eltham giving little resistance as Northcote Park continued to increase their lead

Reserves

The reserves had a dour struggle all day and were just unable to score that vital goal in the final stages to just go down by 5 points. Northcote Park  continued to successfully stifle any attaching move the Panthers attempted in the last half of the final quarter.  The loss being our first for the season so far.

Under 19s

Despite having four more scoring shots than the opposition over the course of the game we were well beaten by the opposition in the second half to go down by 36 points at the end.