Bulls young gun Kyle Martin launches into a marking contest during his side’s win over East Burwood on Saturday. 30904 By Paul Pickering
NOBLE Park was back at its devastating best on Saturday, returning to game plan ‘A’ as it swept aside East Burwood by 79 points.
The Bulls put on a clinic in the first half, carrying the ball in waves through the corridor to create 24 scoring shots to the Rams’ five.
That translated into a 64-point half-time lead, which should have taken Noble a long way towards atoning for its capitulation at Wantirna South the previous weekend.
But, much to coach Alan Ezard’s disgust, the Bulls reverted to stop-start footy in the third, losing the quarter by four points.
Ezard reprogrammed his troops at the break and got the response he was after, but the momentary lapse left a bitter taste in the coach’s mouth.
“When the pressure is on they just fall back into bad habits, and it’s just nowhere near how our game plan should be played,” he reflected on the third-quarter stumble.
“When we do it well, we really play good footy, but it’s those little lapses that let the opposition in.”
There is little doubt that Noble’s best is brilliant. That was clear for all to see in the early stages on Saturday, when the class of Stewart Kemperman, Craig Anderson and Ziggie Alwan was complemented by the grit of defenders Nick Williams and Tim Davison.
Kemperman was the most damaging player on the ground, kicking four booming goals and putting the East Burwood defence under constant pressure with his penetrating left-footed deliveries.
Anderson continued his rich vein of form, finding the ball at will with no small thanks to dominant ruckmen Andrew Gilbert (two goals) and Glen Manson (two).
Davison was given the job on injured Rams spearhead Jason Cook (three), and he succeeded in making it a miserable afternoon for the big man.
That left Beau Cosson (six) as the main threat up forward for the visitors, while playmaker Steve Perri did much of the grunt work through the middle.
Noble’s emphatic victory signalled a timely return to top form ahead of Saturday’s much-anticipated clash with Blackburn.
The emerging Burners were upset by Scoresby on the weekend – a result that the top-of-the-table Bulls could have done without.
“It’s probably made the game even more dangerous for us,” Ezard conceded.
“But it’s an opportunity to find out where our players are at.”
Ezard was quick to dismiss the hype about Noble’s first meeting against former coach Kris Barlow, who joined Blackburn as a playing assistant this year.
“We haven’t really spoken about what Kris is doing,” he said.
“We’re just trying to look after our own backyard.”
