By Roy Ward
DINGLEY coach Shane Morwood has challenged his players to find a way to turn their season around following a 45-point loss to Clayton at Meade Reserve in the Southern Football League division 1 on Saturday.
The Dingoes were soundly beaten in the contest and around the ground by the Clays, who were bigger and stronger, then proved to be more effective with the ball as they led at each change.
Morwood said the Dingoes had to work harder both at training and during matches if they wanted to return to winning matches.
“It has to start at training and we have to work harder,” he said. “It’s hard to understand how we could play so well in the opening four rounds, then lose like we have the last two matches.
“Last round against Chelsea Heights we didn’t get any contested football. This week we were a little better in that area, so that improvement is a positive we’ll take with us from this match.”
Morwood is also looking ahead to the return of captain Lee Wonnacott, Ben Arnold and full-back Steve Vinen over the next month as another positive.
He identified two areas of concern in the game – the Dingoes’ inability to man up their opponents and their poor ball use. “Our ball use was one of the things we were doing well, so I’m not sure where the problems we had today came from,” Morwood said.”
In many ways the two clubs have gone in much different directions since last season, when the Dingoes threatened to make the finals while the Clays fought off relegation by just percentage points.
Under the coaching of Ben McGee and with an influx of talented, well-built and determined players the Clays suddenly look like a team with unlimited potential.
After taking a slim lead into quarter time McGee demanded better conversion and more effort from his players focusing on more tackles and selfless plays. His side responded by extending their lead at half time before exploding in the third term.
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