By Marcus Uhe
Pleased with the execution, disappointed with the end result.
To push the top side as far as they did filled Wandin coach Nick Adam with optimism and enhanced his conviction that he and his side are as close as can be to the benchmark.
To have to play next week, however, was not the outcome they desired.
“I guess there’s some belief that you can take out of it, if we’re lucky enough to get the opportunity against them in two weeks’ time,” Adam said.
“I think in the first half we cost ourselves with the ball in hand.
“What we wanted to get out of our defence against Narre Warren, to try and take one of their strengths away, worked.
“I thought we overused it in the first half, we had a nervous energy about us.
“The second half I was really pleased with how we used the footy.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s footy.”
It’s now twice they’ve kept the Magpies to under 100 points, the third occasion only allowing 101, and easily the lowest team score of the year, with Will Howe and Jake Richardson held goalless by a stellar defensive performance by the Wandin backs.
While some may think back to Damien Furey’s fumble at the top of the goal square as the moment the game swung the match, Adam defended his midfielder, looking at the entire match as opposed to the final minutes.
“A game of footy is a game of 1500 moments and the one at the end with Furey clutching one in the goal square, he’s as good as anyone in the side with ground ball,” Adam said.
“I feel like it was 120 minutes today not the last two.
“I think we were trying to hit lazers for the first hour of footy. even out of defensive 50 too.
“I think you’’ll find that they kicked five from turnover and three from free kicks.”
A cut-throat preliminary final against Woori Yallock awaits for a shot at redemption on grand final day.
“We’re playing Woori Yallock in a preliminary final, and we need to make sure we get that right and get that done,” Adam said.
“We’ve probably shown ourselves that we’re up to the level, but we’ve got to give ourselves an opportunity.
“We can’t look past next weekend and we won’t look past next weekend.
“We’re disappointed and there weren’t many smiles in the room afterwards, which is good, because it shows that it means so much.
“But we’ve got our arch rival in a preliminary final at Yarra Junction next week, and we’ve got to get the job done. “
