By Roy Ward
AN impressive debut from teenager Trent Cody was not enough to stop Noble Park losing to rivals Scoresby at Pat Wright Senior Oval on Saturday.
The Bulls trailed throughout the day against the fired-up Magpies, who had lost the last two Eastern Football League division 1 grand finals to the Bulls.
The Magpies looked the goods throughout the day, dominating the contested football and peppering the ball into their forward line, with Ben Bronsgeest, David Marcius, Kirby McConnon and Chris Hoegel each kicking three goals.
Bulls coach Mick Fogarty said his players were unable to beat the Magpies when the ball was there to be won. ‘‘We were down around the stoppages and they were too good and too strong,’’ he said.
‘‘They also spread a lot better than we did and got good releases which put pressure on our back line. It makes it pretty tough on the defence when they are getting that amount of ball in to their forwards.’’
Fogarty said the Magpies won the clearances 53-31 according to his club’s statistics.
While the loss hurt the Bulls, they still sit 12 points clear in fifth place ahead of Lilydale and just four points from Scoresby, Vermont and Balwyn, who are all tied for second place.
Fogarty said the major bonus of the Bulls’ depleted senior side was the game time for young players like Trent Cody, brother Luke Cody, Tom Wilkinson, Cohen Howell and Casey Scorpions listed player Luke Bull.
‘‘It won’t have an immediate effect but getting these young kids into the side through our under-18s is really important for the club right now,’’ Fogarty said. ‘‘Trent Cody did very well and that is the positive for us, getting games into these kids.’’
The Bulls will also lose key forward Luke Mann for the next two matches due to work commitments overseas.
EFL division 1 ladder: Norwood 40 points, 136.97 per cent; Balwyn 36, 135.37; Scoresby 36, 129.82; Vermont 36, 126.99; Noble Park 32, 113.35; Lilydale 20, 102.77; East Burwood 20, 94.68; Knox 20, 92.24; East Ringwood 20, 90.77; Blackburn 16, 83.37; South Croydon 8, 72.26; Croydon 4, 66.67.
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