By David Nagel
“Good kicking is good football” should be tattooed on the hands and foreheads of Nar Nar Goon players this week after Justin Stanton’s men held on for a 6.17(53) to 8.4(52) victory over Tooradin-Dalmore on Saturday.
For the second time in three weeks the Goon let high-quality opposition off the hook; failing to convert a plethora of opportunity and put the game to bed.
Ironically, it was a missed set shot from Tooradin-Dalmore sharpshooter Stewart Scanlon – with just a minute left on the clock – that allowed Nar Nar Goon to hold on by the narrowest of margins and chalk up its first victory over the Seagulls since round seven, 2021.
This goal-kicking thing is becoming a real issue for the Goon.
In round seven it had 24 scoring shots to 17, but lost to Cora Lynn by three points, while it dominated the inside-50 count and had 23 shots to 12 on the weekend.
The Goon is the only team to have had more scoring shots than every opponent it has played against this year; winning that statistic in every game by at least seven.
Drizzly, wet conditions certainly played a role in skill errors on the weekend, but an abundance of forward entries is likened to gorging on a never-ending feast.
“We dominated the inside 50s throughout the day, we just failed to convert, and I guess the conditions played a bit of a factor in that,” Stanton said.
“It’s something that we’re mindful of; but we set ourselves targets each week of how many inside 50s we want to achieve, quarter by quarter, and we generally meet those targets.
“Our efficiency is really poor, and I also put it down to complacency; they think it doesn’t matter if I miss this one, we’ll get another inside 50 in a minute or two and I’ll make amends for it then.
“We’re averaging between 55 and 60 inside 50s per game, so with that we get lots of shots on goal; if we get our efficiency sorted out I think we’ll be a very hard team to beat.”
Stanton said the win was very important, given a non-competitive performance against the same opponent last year.
“We had a bit of a point to prove; we only played Tooradin once last year and they beat us by a truckload, 12 or 13 goals (87 points), so we needed to make amends, and not many teams are going to knock them off at their ground this year.
“The result was really pleasing.”
Eamon Trigg got the Goon off to a flyer in the first quarter, before consecutive goals to Panos Papas, Lewis Hill and Johnny Duff gave the Seagulls a 10-point lead.
Some quick hands from Jake Smith to Clancy Pope saw the Goon cut the margin to four points at the first break.
The drizzle began falling during quarter time, making conditions greasy and scoring difficult for both teams.
Brad Lenders cleverly dribbled one through to extend the margin for the Gulls, before Matt Gentile kicked the next two to give the Goon a seven-point lead.
His second goal was a cracker; born from some great play from further up the field.
Harry Brain gathered a loose ball at half back and found Max McGreal with a switch-kick, with quick hands from McGreal finding JJ Peni on the run.
Peni kicked to open space, with Gentile gathering on the run and converting in clinical fashion to cap off the play of the day.
Piva Wright then answered, after a centre clearance from Hill, to cut the Goon’s advantage to two points at the major interval.
The Goon suffered dual blows to its forward set-up; prior to and during half time.
Full-forward Dermott Yawney pulled up quickly at the 26-minute-mark of the second term with a serious left-hamstring injury that will keep him out for at least a month of footy.
Gentile was also rendered useless after a corky to his hip in the second quarter.
Neither team gave an inch in the third stanza, with Jed Smith finally converting the Goon’s fourth shot on goal for the quarter to open up a handy 11-point lead.
But a late Nick Lang goal from the boundary saw the home side just six points adrift with a quarter left to play.
Midfielder Jesse Craven then received a high-free kick – five minutes into the last – and converted brilliantly to draw the home side level and bring the crowd to its feet.
Jed Smith then emerged from stoppage to snap one off his right boot; the Goon seven points ahead after nine minutes.
Lang then kicked a set shot at the 23-minute mark to cut the gap to two points.
With the spotlights on, in fading light, Scanlon then had a chance to snatch victory after receiving a high-free kick.
His kick drifted right, with the Goon defending brilliantly to quell some further forward thrusts and hold on for victory.
“The pleasing thing was our back six worked really well as a group,” Stanton explained.
“In recent times we’ve defended individually, but we had a focus on supporting one another and the motto was around, ‘what can I do to benefit my teammate’, and I thought they did that really well.
“The good thing about our backs is that they’re really selfless, they just play their role, and there’s not one that we value any less than the others.
“There are a couple of our backs that opposition wouldn’t know if they bobbed up in their Corn Flakes, they just go about their work and nullify their opponent.
“They’re not household names some of them; but they play their roles really well.
“The mids and forwards absolutely adore our defenders, because they know how hard they work.
“It’s no secret that most of our scoring is generated from creating turnover in the back third of the ground, and that back six are obviously a key part in making that happen.”
The Goon sit top of the ladder after round nine, but Stanton knows the real work now begins in the second half of the season.
“We’re happy with our position, but it’s a waste if don’t finish top two,” he said.
“Our goal is the same as the start of the season, to finish top two; but others want the same thing, so we need everything to go our way if we’re going to make that happen.
“I genuinely think there’s only a kick or two between the top five sides at the moment.”
Defenders Jake Blackwood, Peni and James Cairns were all superb for the victors, while Craven, Lang and Hill gave their absolute all for the Gulls.
Tooradin heads to Phillip Island for another blockbuster clash this week, while the Goon will be expecting an easier time of things against Garfield at Nar Nar Goon.
