Above: Craig Anderson’s best on ground performance guided Noble Park to a 22-point win over Blackburn on Saturday. By Paul Pickering
QUESTIONS were asked – and fingers pointed – at the Bullring last week as Noble Park came to terms with a lack of leadership in its loss to East Burwood.
But the Bulls responded in no uncertain terms against Blackburn in their Division One clash on Saturday, outclassing the improved Burners to win by 22 points at Moodemere Street.
Tellingly, it was midfield leaders Craig Anderson and Peter O’Brien who set the tone for the Bulls, responding to a challenge from injured playing coach Kris Barlow.
“During the week I asked the leaders to stand up, and the two of them (Anderson and O’Brien) could not have stood any taller,” Barlow said.
Keen to redeem themselves in front of the Noble Park faithful, the Bulls began steadily, opening up a 10-point lead by quarter-time.
In the second term, the young Burners began to get their hands on the footy, and a return of 3.7 was all that stopped them from hitting the front by the main break.
With a half-time buffer of just five points, the prospect of a second consecutive upset was enough to spur the Bulls into an eight-goal-to-three third term.
Much of the scoreboard damage was done by the Noble Park midfielders, with Anderson (four goals) surging forward alongside George Angelopoulos (three), Steve Fouracre (two) and O’Brien (two), while Tim Davison (three) and Dean Kelly (three) provided the mid-sized targets.
After establishing a 35-point three-quarter time lead, the Bulls cruised home to win comfortably and earn the praise of their coaching staff.
“I was more than happy with the way they responded (to the loss in the previous round),” Barlow said.
“We played with much better intensity and went about things the right way.”
In Barlow’s absence, the return of Angelopoulos – on a week off from Victorian Football League duties with Box Hill – was a timely injection of speed and polish.
Hard-running on-baller Ramy Melhem continued his brilliant debut season, while ruckman Andrew Gilbert provided a contest at stoppages and a target around the ground.
Off-season recruit Shayne Allan was able to curtail the influence of Blackburn ball-magnet Michael Rainey, and his contribution was not lost on the coach.
“He fits right into the mould of footballer that I like in that he can play a number of positions,” Barlow said.
“He’s got tremendous pace, he’s probably the quickest over 100 metres that we’ve got at the club.
“We’re trying to teach him that defensive side of his game, and we’re happy with him in that small match-up down back.”
Saturday’s win saw the Bulls move to 8-2 for the season, with only percentage separating Noble Park and Balwyn from Vermont atop the Division One ladder.
This weekend the Bulls will travel to Norwood’s Mullum Reserve for the first time.
The Norsemen accounted for Croydon by three points at the same ground on Saturday, so they will be no pushovers.
Barlow is expected to miss at least the next two games after having arthroscopic surgery to clean up some cartilage damage in his knee, but he expects key defender Adrian Little to return from a calf strain this Saturday.
