PORTS’ finals aspirations took a battering at the hands of premiership hopefuls Gibson after the Blues suffered a 55-point defeat at Ports Oval last Sunday.
Despite conceding the first two goals Gibson always looked in control of the game as they marched clear to record their 11th win in 12 appearances this season.
The Tigers were quick to bounce back, with the aid of a steady breeze favouring the scoreboard end of the ground, slotting seven goals for the term and while the Blues tried desperately to answer the challenge Gibson found themselves 24 points up at the first break.
Their use of the ball in the forward lines was far stronger as veteran Greg Prosser - playing his 100th game for the club - and youngster Brodie Green gave their team mates up field all-important options when pressing into attack.
Prosser eventually capped off one of his best efforts of the season with a five-goal haul for the day while Green ended the game having nailed four.
While Ports did have some excuses with full forward Nigel Johnston and Scott Stihec both missing from the line-up the side still struggled to make the most of their opportunities.
The Blues could manage just one goal with the breeze before failing to nail a major score in the third term, giving the Tigers a match winning 60-point break at the final change.
Scott Docherty proved the one exception kicking four goals in a game marred by an unfortunate head injury that saw Evan Willumsen helped from the ground during the second quarter.
The Tigers ability to get to the ball in numbers proved another highlight of the game and added pressure to the Blues, forcing numerous turnovers when Ports had possession and attempted to press forward.
To their credit the Blues never laid down and despite facing a near impossible task Ports continued to dig deep and ended the day winning the final term after kicking four exceptional goals, outscoring the tigers by four points.
Despite this the day belonged to the Tigers and goal kicking duo Prosser and Green, Baden Norwood proved the best on ground with another big performance, mostly seen through the back lines, while Jason Farquhar and Cody Henderson also rated highly.
On a day their defence saw plenty of the ball Cory Bennier proved the Blues best on ground with a hard working display both in the ruck and back lines, Josh Veness also picked up several crucial possessions along with Shane Pelly.
Steve Baker was another to stand out in defence while Docherty presented himself well and youngster Clinton Symes stood out.
Final score Gibson 16.14 (110) b Ports 8.7 (55).
The reserves saw the tigers maintain an impressive home and away record form the season, Gibson taking their 12 straight win with a 107-point demolition of an undermanned Ports.
With Kerrin Burnett (four goals) continuing his great form with the boot since returning to the club only weeks ago, and Brenton Bridges (four goals) picking holes in the blues defence Gibson never looked in danger.
Brad McLean and Hamish Macalpine also did a lot of work with Mathew Upton while Ashley Weckert rounded off the Tigers best after handing in a solid performance through their forward lines.
For the Blues better players were hard to come by, with the exception of Terrence Yorkshire and full back Ramon Garcia.
Shae Turrell showed out along with talented youngster Levo Cox while veteran footballer and Blues Colts coach Ray Pilmer handed in a lesson his charges would have been proud off.
Final score Gibson 17.11 (113) b Ports 1.0 (6).
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff