By ADEM SARICAOGLU
THEY may be winless in three games but the Western Jets again showed why they are a force to be reckoned with in the TAC Cup on Sunday.
The Jets made the trip to Morwell to take on the Gippsland Power and were in serious trouble after one quarter of footy, going into the quarter time break 24 points down.
The margin blew out to five goals in the second term but was pegged back to 17 by halftime.
The game then broke open in a third quarter that yielded 12 goals, eight of which went the Jets’ way.
It was a stunning burst of offence led by Mitch Norton (five goals) and James Sicily (three) that turned the game in the Jets’ favour, and by three-quarter time they found themselves nine points up.
However that burst came at a price, and Gippsland managed to over-power the visitors in the final term with six goals to finish up winners by 10 points.
After the game Jets coach Torin Baker admitted the poor start proved too costly by game’s end.
“We gave them too much of a start and in the end that was probably the main difference in the game,” Baker said.
“Our guys really fought it out well like they’ve done every week, but we were five goals down in the second quarter (and) we spent a lot of our energy getting it back to level pegging.”
The Jets have remained competitive in every game so far this season, but a mixed bag of brilliance and wayward concentration have let them down in recent weeks.
Baker said it was natural for young footballers to lapse during games.
“We were fairly good for most of the game but there’s certainly been that aspect of games, probably 15 to 20-minute periods, where we’ve let ourselves down,” he said. “It’s come back to hurt us a couple of times.”
However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Baker and his Jets.
Norton, who has now kicked 15 goals in his six games this season, enjoyed a breakout game with his bag of five.
Baker labelled his game as “fantastic”.
“He’s very dangerous around goals, he’s really good on the lead and also he was terrific on the ground,” Baker said.
Promising youngster Liam Duggan also caught Baker’s eye.
“Liam Duggan was really good defensively and was really good in attacks for us as well,” he said.
“Both those players were really good for us on the day.”
The Jets will enjoy the weekend off before facing up to Tasmania on Saturday week.
They currently sit seventh on the TAC Cup ladder with two wins, three losses and a draw.
