By ADEM SARICAOGLU
THE mood inside the Essendon District Football League’s dressing room within the old bowels of Visy Park said it all on Saturday afternoon.
The league was confident it had enough quality to get the job done against the Northern Football League in the second of three interleague contests on the day, but in the end was left ruing what might have been.
The NFL looked a sharper, more competitive unit from start to finish in what was at times a spiteful battle – leaving the EDFL with little choice but to chase the game for its entirety.
A clear NFL dominance through the midfield and an outside game lacking any kind of flow for the EDFL proved the difference in the end, with the NFL finishing up a 37-point winner to advance to the tier one game next year.
EDFL coach Denis Bicer told media afterward of the post-match disappointment felt by his group.
“Having a chat to the players and seeing their faces – they didn’t like what happened to them today,” Bicer said.
“There’s a feeling that they want to put on a better show for themselves personally and for the league as well.”
Bicer said it was tough to pinpoint any aspects of the game where he felt the EDFL got on top of the northerners.
“We were soundly beaten in all three areas of the game,” he said.
“We couldn’t get our hands on the ball early, we were out-muscled at the contest (and) probably most disappointingly we weren’t able to spread and use the ball on the outside.
“Our back six fought hard all day (and what) we were hoping to stand for as a team we weren’t able to do, and that’s be strong in the clinches.
“We were forced to defend a lot because they got their hands on the ball and we were using a lot of our tickets doing that.”
The NFL’s strong pressure throughout the day forced the EDFL into silly turnovers, giving key forward pillars Patrick Rose and Dean Galea little chance of attacking the scoreboard.
“We knew that it was the trademark to their game and to their league,” Bicer said.
“They’re a really strong, big-bodied competition. We thought we had enough big-bodied mids in there to be able to compete and we definitely thought we had enough of the outside runners to be able to provide spread.
“But look, we were well and truly beaten by a better team and what it does is it gives us an opportunity to reflect as a league and learn and grow and hopefully come back in a better position next year.”
