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It was back to reality for Bullants supporters yesterday after yet another frustrating loss, this time to stand alone club Frankston.
The Bullants dominated possession early and were always going to be vunerable after returning just a megre 1.4 in the 1st quarter. Their dominance was such, that Frankston barely went inside 50 for the quarter.
The Bullants lacked structure up forward, with Sam Pleming getting in the way of the inform Setanta O'Hailpin on more than one ocassion. They also over possessed inside 50, which may have been the result of a lack of confidence in the marking options ahead.
In the 2nd quarter it was Frankston's turn to dominate as some Bullants players began to play like millionares. They made the most of their opportunities thanks to their smaller forwards Chris Fortnam and Justin Berry who ran rings around the Bullants they took a 16 pt lead into the half-time break. Ruckman Chris Bryan also was amongst the Dolphins best.
Speedy small sized forwards have given the Bullants trouble throughout 2004 and with Anthony Franchina out injured their was simply no stop gap measure that could be applied. Berry finished the game with 5.1 and was very impressive and looks like he could make the grade at AFL level if given the opportunity.
Despite the Bullants struggling throughout the 2nd quarter few changes were made from the sidelines. Saad Saad came on about 2 minutes before half time, while Brett Gutterson, Brett Colbert and David James must have been tempted to ask Barry Mitchell if they would ever get a run! On some days the Bullants do have that Under 11 feel about them.
Gutterson did get a run and he proved to be quite productive in the third term kicking all 3 Bullant goals. But generally Frankston outplayed the Bullants kicking 5.3 to 3.3 and looked home going into the final term with a 28 pt margin.
The Bullants started the final term well and again were dominating poession. Stephen Kenna and David Clarke gave the forwards plenty of opportunities.
Luke Livingston who had been moved to full-forward at the start of the 3rd term started to get into the game. However he missed 2 set shots from 30 metres out and Sam Pleming was later to hit the post from the same region.
The poor kicking snuffed out any chance the Bullants had of winning the game. To cap of a big day, Berry kicked the final goal of the game to seal victory for Frankston.
Watching Frankston walking off the ground I could only yearn for the days when the Bullants were a stand alone club.
