Eagles run riot

By Paul Pickering
NOBLE Park coach Alan Ezard had every right to be lost for words after his side’s embarrassing 78-point loss to Vermont on Saturday, but he wasn’t.
In fact, amid all the mutterings of disgust from the Noble faithful, it was Ezard who delivered the most concise assessment of the match.
“We played s..thouse and they couldn’t have played better,” the Bulls’ boss reflected.
“It was obviously the worst game we’ve played this year.
“Full credit to Vermont, they just rolled the dice and ran forward of the footy, but our blokes didn’t even have a crack.”
That much was clear for all to see in the first quarter, when the Eagles ran rampant – and seemingly unchecked – through the middle of the ground, waltzing forward to kick the first seven goals of the match.
Bulls’ tagger Trent Robertson copped a spray from the coach after letting Vermont champ Kris Bardon off the leash, but he wasn’t alone. Vermont midfielders Dean Stephen and Luke Cotchett were paid no respect, and veteran half-forward Aaron Nummy burnt Nick Williams twice with goals on the rebound.
The Bulls stopped the bleeding momentarily in the second, but couldn’t stop the familiar double act that followed after the interval.
Freakish Vermont forwards Matt Greig (seven goals) and Ash Froud (four) – so often Noble’s nemeses – booted three majors apiece in the third term. Froud’s dribbling check-side goal from deep in the left forward pocket summed up the afternoon.
Trailing by 99 points at three-quarter time, the Bulls rallied – thanks largely to the diligence of Dean Kelly – to kick six goals to Vermont’s three in the final term.
That effort helped to conserve some valuable percentage, but it couldn’t prevent Vermont from ousting the Bulls from fifth place on the Division One ladder.
Ezard and his staff struggled to find a consistent contributor beyond Kelly, so they didn’t bother, naming just one player in their best.
Kelly, Dave Velardo, Shayne Allan and Glen Manson each booted two goals for the afternoon.
It was a demoralising performance, and Ezard was wary of dwelling on the loss for too long.
“That (inconsistency) is going to happen when you’ve got a lot of kids, so we’ve just got to make sure they keep their confidence up,” he explained.
“We’ll just pick up the tape (of Saturday‘s game), throw it out the window and concentrate on Norwood this week.”
The sixth-placed Bulls are now just one game ahead of the Norsemen, who beat Noble in the corresponding fixture at Mullum Reserve last season.