A five goal to zero opening term has helped lead the North Ballarat Rebels to a comfortable 60 point win over the Northern Knights.
The Knights competed hard in the next two terms before another late surge from Rebels in the final term which blew the margin out.
While the Knights will be disappointed with the loss coach Andrew Shakespeare says there was a lot of improvement after what happened against the Stingrays the week before. “Our effort and application were far better than last week… our ability to pressure the opposition to give us opportunity also improved.”
Once again though Shakespeare says it was poor execution that cost the Knights a chance to get back into the contest, “Our skill execution was really poor, we had +15 inside 50s and we just couldn’t convert, eventually that hurt us.”
Coach gave credit to North Ballarat for the pressure they put on that effected that execution. Shakespeare sees as a positive in that, “our task going forward is to learn how to execute under that pressure that we are going to get each week in the TAC Cup.”
Mason Blakey had another great captains outing, finishing with 26 disposals and a goal.
Matt Perry (34 disposals) and Mitch Andrews (27 disposals) also were very impressive today for the club.
Marcus Lentini also had a strong game with 24 touches and 9 marks.
Another exciting moment for the Knights today when first gamer Charlie Smythe kicked his first goal late in the final term. Second debutant Anthony Bernardi had a strong defensive game impressing the coach.
While it was a disappointing result today, it was again another opportunity to learn and get better which is what the Knights will look to do over the rest of the season.
The Knights have a week off next week before coming back to take on the Gippsland Power after the bye.
Last Modified on 14/05/2016 17:39