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I flew down to Tassy for the game yesterday, and what an enjoyable day in Hobart it turned out to be.
Bellreive Oval has some of the best backdrops at a footy ground that I can recall. I have a couple of photo's that I will post up later tonight. We stood on the grassy wing, in front of a massive wide-screens that took a feed from the ABC TV Coverage.
The game was close all the way to 3/4 time, with Port trailing by 7 points. They had worked hard to bring the margin back, after it had ballooned out at a couple of stages.
In the final quarter, Port put on a terrfic display, really breaking the game open, and kicking goals to turn the deficit around into a 26 point win. I think we were about the only Port supporters that made the trip down, but its one of the best away wins I can recall.
The crowd wasn't as big as was being predicted, with some saying it would draw almost 10,000, which the Semi-Final last year exceeded... Probably 4000 (the ground announcer said there was almost 5000, but I think he was kidding himself.
Players.. As you have already read in this thread Shane Harvey was dropped! It will be interesting to see how he responds to this, looking at the best list for the reserves game against the Bullants, he was not amongst the best either. McMahon came in after last weeks form in the twos, and was very good around the midfield.
This was Steve Lawrences best game to date. He worked hard and copped some heavy knocks, but seemed to enjoy the attention. He kicked a couple of goals early, that we sorely needed after other players had missed a couple of chances. He finished with 3 for the day.
Urch would come under some consideration to play with North this week. He's delivery of the ball is first rate, and he took some good marks.
Ben Robbins must have done something to upset the umpires early, because he was penalised a couple of times (one for the softest free kick of the game) he remonstrated, and hung around to watch the replay on the scoreboard (which they didn't show). After that when he copped a couple of high tackles which weren't paid. He worked hard and was in and under.
Defensively Obst and Lecras had their work cut out, as some of the delivery to their forwards was good. LeCras was well beaten on a couple of occasions, but Bruno responded well. Obst was good, and David Trotter I can only assume spent a fair bit of time on the bench because I hardly saw him.
Hamish and Gill shared the ruck and forward duties, with H starting in the centre. His ruckwork was good, and Gill was leading very strongly and took some good marks but didnt make the most of them in the first quarter. When the two switched Gill really killed them in the ruck. Hamish worked hard and could have finished with more than his two goals for the day. A couple of times he was held in the contest, and nearly took a beauty with one hand in the second quarter.
Firrito was a little quiet, as was Gieschen (who finished with a bandaged head - i didn't see the incident) and Ashley Watson was good, but didn't have the same influence on the game he has had in recent weeks.
First game back for Port, Stevens who gets a fair bit of criticism from North supporters, but at VFL level can be a damaging player.. That said he still seems to be a player that can go in and out of a game, but his ability to take on the opposition and kick long into the forward line is good. Wasn't in as good form as when we saw him at the Borough late last year.
I think Schwarce (and Gieschen too) haven't spent as much time on the ground as they were earlier in the season. Gibson who played in the backline worked hard, and saved a couple of goals late in the game.
Shore and Chad Jones both played ok games, Shore finished with one, and Chad Jones kicked a couple. Joel Perry I can't say I saw too much of, but I think he went ok.
Both Claytons , were named amongst our best. Jeremy's clever use of the ball and ability to kick goals on the run yesterday saw him snare a couple nice goals. This was Shane's game at Port to date, had a fair bit of the ball, and used it well.
As with a game where 99.99% of the crowd are Tassy supporters, there was deathly silence when Port kicked a goal.
A very enjoyable game of footy, and the team seemed in good spirits too.. by chance I caught the same plane home as the club (who were well-behaved) If we had lost, and I'd given the players a spray from the fence it could have made for a long trip home :)
Very much looking to travel the Ballart game, as North had a good win on Saturday as well, with Nathan Saunders kicking 6 and Brent Tuckey kicking 3.
Here is the Examiner article on yesterdays game.
[url]http://www.examiner.com.au/story.asp?id=232940[/url]
