The efforts of Noble Park pair Nick (above) and Lloyd Williams (right) couldn’t prevent an upset against East Burwood on Saturday. Pictures: Stewart Chambers. 19159By Paul Pickering
NOBLE Park has relinquished top spot in Division One of the Eastern Football League after an inexplicable 19-point upset at East Burwood on Saturday.
The Bulls trailed for the entire match, and while a comeback seemed inevitable, it never came.
It was only the second loss of the season for the Bulls and the third victory from nine games for the Rams.
Noble Park playing coach Kris Barlow, who missed the match with a nagging knee injury, said he believed the loss was an aberration – a “speed hump” – rather than an indication of any deeper deficiency.
Still, Barlow said he was disappointed with the way his charges accepted their fate after a poor start.
“We played a side that was a little more committed, had more motivation and applied a lot of pressure, and we failed to deal with it,” he said.
“We probably didn’t have enough guys stick their hands up and do something about it. We just let it happen.”
Without Barlow’s presence in the middle, the onus fell on the likes of Craig Anderson and Peter O’Brien to give the Bulls first use of the ball.
Both were tagged heavily and had little influence on the game.
Ramy Melhem and Stewart Kemperman did their bit to wrestle the early momentum away from the Rams, and Lloyd Williams, Tim Kelly and Tim Davison provided some resistance, but Noble Park’s second-tier on-ballers were soundly beaten.
After establishing a one-goal lead at quarter-time, East Burwood’s confidence continued to grow in a second term that reaped four goals to the Bulls’ one.
And despite Noble Park’s dangerous offensive arsenal, it was East Burwood’s Jason Cook (six goals) and Steve Henshaw (three) who proved most damaging up forward.
In contrast, Noble Park duo Dave Velardo (one) and Dean Kelly (two) barely fired a shot.
At the other end, in-form defender Lloyd Williams tried valiantly to stem the flow.
Down 16 points at the final break, Barlow implored his Bulls to recapture the spirit of recent weeks, but the Rams would not be denied a memorable upset win in front of a frenzied home crowd.
Barlow is no certainty to return this weekend, but is eager to see how the group responds against Blackburn at the Bullring.
“By no means is it panic stations, but we really need to bounce back this week against a side that is playing for its season,” he said.
Blackburn is among five clubs sitting on five wins, while Noble Park now finds itself in a log-jam at the top of the table.
Only percentage separates Vermont, the Bulls, Balwyn and Scoresby in the top four.
