Redlegs run out of puff

By Gavin Staindl
DANDENONG’S first quarter was again its Achilles heel as the Southern Dragons knocked the Redlegs out of the finals race by 21 points at Meade Reserve last Sunday.
Playing their first final in 10 years, Dandenong sunk to a 19-point deficit at the first break and although they remained within four goals for most of the day they never managed to recover from the opening 25 minutes.
The loss highlighted Dandenong’s first-quarter fumbles where poor starts have cost the Redlegs wins in four of their last five matches.
Remarkably, the unwanted trend appeared to be coming to a end when Dandenong controlled the opening 10 minutes and scored the first goal of the game.
Running on the emotion of a finals match, Dandenong continued to drive the ball inside their forward 50 at a regular pace but the Redlegs could not penetrate the deep flood employed by the Dragons.
With numbers behind the ball the Dragons counter-punched and caught the exhausted Redlegs off guard.
Dandenong coach Brendan Allen said the result of the game was dictated by the opening quarter.
“We were spent after the opening 10 minutes,” Allen said.
“It was addressed through the week that we wanted to come out hard, and we did, but we just couldn’t score,” he said.
At the half-time break Allen made drastic changes that included keeping himself in the unfamiliar position on the wing and moving Nick Shannon onto the opposite wing.
Allen also shifted Daniel Shiel from the forward line to centre-half back and David Barrie, who kicked three goals as a resting forward, was asked to play on the ball for the remainder of the half
The changes sparked life into the team with Shiel, Barrie and Allen finishing among the best players for the Redlegs.
But it was not enough and the Dragons held onto their first quarter advantage to progress to next week’s semi-final.
Although the sombre Dandenong team lay sprawled on the ground after the match, disappointed from losing the final, Allen was proud of all that his team had achieved this year.
“We have improved. We haven’t played finals since 2000.
“Off-field we have come on in leaps and bounds and that is reflected in our on-field performances,” he said.