By Jonty Ralphsmith
The ghosts of past finals misery cursed Devon Meadows on Saturday at RJ Rowley Reserve.
The Panthers went down 23.13 151 to 6.8 44 to Chelsea in an ugly and inexplicable qualifying final.
It’s a staggering 160 point turnaround from the home and away match between the clubs.
Devon Meadows fielded a stronger outfit on Saturday yet played with much less ticker.
The midfield was slaughtered.
The match got away in a perplexing nine goal second term which put the margin out to 47 points.
“It looked like our midfielders were really flat yesterday – they looked hungrier around the contest,” coach Ryan Hendy said.
“They came with a good plan in place and our mids didn’t stand up to the challenge which is rare.
“We put it down to a bad day – our midfielders are all good players and sometimes you can grow from efforts like that.”
It was the best of Chelsea against the worst of Devon Meadows.
A perfect blend of factors conspired to sink the Panthers.
Wilting under the pressure of finals footy, Chelsea won the contested footy, took strong grabs and kicked goals from outside 50.
The one play in that second term that stymied Chelsea was a trademark Joel Hillis centre clearance and Patrick Ryder contested mark and goal.
Ryder looked dangerous all day but was starved of opportunity and hurt by poor supply, able to only put two goals on the board.
As disappointing as the second quarter was, Devon Meadows conceding the first of the third was on par.
Many would argue the game was gone, but the Panthers had the opportunity to build momentum with a breeze, but instead lost that quarter two goals to one.
By the fourth, there was a dark stench that players had checked out; pride for the jumper appeared overridden by self-preservation.
Nine more goals were put on by Chelsea in the fourth term to extend the margin beyond 100 points.
“That was probably what i was most disappointed with throughout the game – the boys definitely put the cue in the rack which I was disappointed about,” Hendy said.
“We kind of accepted defeat and I don’t like being part of sides who do that – we’ve got to own it sometimes when you don’t put in the performance required and the boys will have to move on quickly.
“We’re confident that we can bounce back to our best footy this week.”
The defeatist emotion surrounding the subsequent three quarters followed a broken even first quarter.
The Panthers did enough to hold Chelsea to three goals despite them dominating territory, while they were opportunistic in the forward half as Ryder provided a focal point and Nick Battle was busy.
There was a cruel irony to a theme of the Panthers’ quarter-time huddle given what would transpire: ‘Chelsea’s thrown its best shot and we’re still even’.
The phrase ‘uncharacteristic’ was one of many thrown around to describe the result on Saturday.
While the margin got out of hand, Devon Meadows remain hit and miss in big games despite their clear progression this season, the current record against fellow top-six teams now 3-5.
“We spoke after the game with the boys and I could see the hurt in their eyes – they’re a side that won’t accept that,” Hendy said.
“I’ve got full faith in their courage to bounce back.
“There have been times throughout the year where we’ve had similar efforts and bounced back really quickly.
“There’s a lot of positivity around the group – we’re disappointed with yesterday’s effort but there’s a lot of good characters and you won’t keep them down for two weeks in a row.”
Despite finishing third on the table, some league-watchers believed the Panthers to be premiership favourites, given a tough home and away draw.
Suddenly, the club finds itself in a do or die final against Somerville at Chelsea this Sunday coming off the most lax performance of its season.
