Daniel Castellano gets a quick kick away. 79419 Picture: EMILY LANE
By LIAM TWOMEY
AFTER a competitive first quarter, the Western Jets have fallen away badly in a 47-point loss to the Oakleigh Chargers in round two of the TAC Cup.
Coming off a final quarter fade-out, which cost the Jets victory in round one against Sandringham, it was clear the players were keen to make amends when the ball was bounced.
It didn’t take long for the fired-up attitude to equate to a positive start on the scoreboard with the first goal sailing through in under a minute of playing time.
Oakleigh, who were a premiership contender last year, weren’t about to lie down though and continually placed the ball carrier under huge pressure.
The Chargers’ first goal came from a brilliant smoother deep in the Jets’ backline as the scores were evened up.
The Jets were having the better of the tough football early and looked good when running the ball through the middle of the ground.
A perfectly timed switch of play secured their second goal of the day and opened up an early seven-point lead.
Both teams struggled to make inroads on the scoreboard for the rest of the quarter, and it looked like the Jets would go into the first break with their small lead intact.
However, two late goals to the Chargers, including one after the siren, turned the momentum of the match and from that point on, it was all one-way traffic.
In a brutal second quarter, Oakleigh added the first six goals while the Jets failed to score.
The lead jumped past 40 until a late goal to the Jets brought the margin back to 34 at half-time.
Even though it was a more competitive Western Jets that came out after the long break, the damage had already been done and the lead remained around the same position for the rest of the match.
Oakleigh was able to win a number of crucial clearances and showed why it will once again be a finals threat later in the season in the 14.8 (92) to 6.9 (45) win.
The Jets’ defenders were under constant pressure as a mixture of turnovers in the middle of the ground and poor decision-making meant the ball stayed in the Oakleigh half for long periods at a time.
Following the disappointing loss, the Jets will look to secure their first win of the season this week against the Eastern Ranges.
