Wasted start costs Cobras

By Glen Atwell
THE Sandown Cobras wasted another impressive start and eventually lost a three-point thriller against Skye in their Division Three Southern Football League (SFL) match at Edinburgh Reserve on Saturday.
Skye’s inaccurate first-quarter kicking (0.6) allowed the Cobras (4.2) to race away to a 20-point lead at the first break.
The Cobras had the Bombers rattled, but like so many times this season failed to play four quarters of solid football.
By half-time, Skye had taken a six-point lead after the Cobras could only manage three points in the second quarter.
Cobras coach Stephen Jasiak’s half-time spray must have inspired his side, because Sandown had kicked itself into what was seemingly a winning position by three-quarter time.
But the 15-point lead was never enough.
The Bombers attacked relentlessly and had eight more scoring shots than the Cobras in the final term.
Skye kicked three goals and seven points – a conversion rate that kept the Cobras in the game until the final siren.
But with 13 more scoring shots on the day, the Bombers should have prevailed with a bigger win.
Huy Voung provided the Cobras with much-needed goal-kicking power, booting three.
Stand-out players for Sandown included John Simmonds, Daniel Mulvogue and Daniel Gargano.
The Cobras’ fifth consecutive loss sets up a match-of-the-round encounter against the Doveton Eagles this Saturday.
The two winless sides may not be finals contenders, but their pride will be on the line at Power Reserve this Saturday.

@BT Sub Sport News:Eagles stand tall in defeat

AN optimist would argue the Doveton Eagles have improved.
Despite their eventual 65-point thrashing from Black Rock on Saturday, the Division Three Eagles put on a proud display.
It was winless versus undefeated, bottom versus top, and many predicted the Eagles would struggle to score.
But instead, Doveton impressed.
The Eagles trailed all day, but the scoreboard didn’t turn ugly until the last quarter.
Black Rock booted eight goals in the final term to leave Power Road with the four points, but the win wasn’t as big as predicted.
Eagles coach Paul Davis, still sidelined with a finger injury, said he was happy with the performance.
“Before the game the message was not to worry about the scoreboard,” he said. “I told the boys to just have a crack and that approach worked quite well.”
Stephen Wright kicked four goals for the Eagles and Nicholas Peterson booted three. Steven Mottau and Gary D’Amelio both impressed for Doveton.
The clash of the cellar-dwellers on Saturday gives the Eagles the chance to regain some pride this season.
Davis said if the team could put on another inspired performance, a win was not out of the question.
“If we can play like we did on Saturday, I think we can win games this season,” he said. “It’s a big one this Saturday – we’re looking for a win.”
Although the Cobras have seemed a far better side in 2006, this match could go down to the wire.

Demons slide after shootout loss
THE Springvale Districts are sliding down the Division Two ladder after losing to Murrumbeena by 21 points on Saturday.
Two weeks ago the Demons were on the verge of cracking into the top four, but two consecutive losses have left the side with some serious work to do.
The match was a shootout and possession football was nowhere to be seen as the two sides went goal for goal.
But the Demons were eventually out-gunned.
Coach Stephen Hughes would no doubt be alarmed at the 19 goals conceded by the Demons defence.
Brendan Ashman and Leighton Ross kicked three goals each for the Demons, and Sareth Suon and Bead Heuvel contributed two apiece.
Four Division Two teams, including Springvale, have won two games and remain only one win outside the top four.
This deadlock will be broken on Saturday when the Demons clash with Caulfield at Springvale Reserve in a must-win game for the Springvale side.
A strong win will keep them in touch with the top four, while a loss could see the side slip as low as second-bottom on the ladder.

Lyndale forgets how to win
IT looks like being a long season for the Division Two Lyndale Pumas.
Heatherton thumped the Pumas by 56 points at Heatherton Reserve on Saturday.
Lyndale trailed by nine points at three-quarter time but ran out of legs in the final term, allowing Heatherton to kick nine goals to two and secure the four points.
The Pumas failed to contain Heatherton full-forward Marcus Wilson, who dominated in attack and booted seven goals.
Matt and Tristan Caples, Damien Wilsnach and Kim Aboujaber kicked two each for the Pumas.
Russell Weeding was again inspirational for Lyndale, dominating through the midfield and providing a target all over.
After five games, Weeding would no doubt be leading the club best and fairest votes.
Ex-Doveton Eagle Roger Lumanovski has made a steady start to his career at Lyndale, and kicked one goal against Heatherton.
Aboujaber has also returned to career-best form, but it seems as though the Pumas have forgotten how to win.
There is no doubting the Pumas have the talent to win more games than they lose and the pressure to discover the winning formula could be beginning to mount on coach Danny Scott.
Lyndale returns to Barry Powell Reserve to play Tooronga-Malvern on Saturday.