A 3-point win under lights | Round 16 Match Report
By Zoe Greenhill, Borough Media on July 10, 2022
Port Melbourne have secured their 5th win of the 2022 season on Saturday night, defeating the Carlton Blues by 3 points. The lights were back in full brightness at ETU Stadium, creating ideal night conditions for footy.
Nash Holmes brought the pressure to the game with 7 tackles, 15 disposals and a goal. Harvey Hooper was again a standout player, with 27 disposals and 8 tackles. Five Borough players involving Archi Manton (3), Jake gasper (2), Paul Hunter (2), Fletcher Roberts (2) and Cody Szust (2) were multi-goal kickers enabling a 14-goal game from Port Melbourne.
The first quarter was neck and neck with the margin remaining within a goal until the 25th minute. Gasper then kicked two back-to-back goals taking the lead out to 18-points going into the first break. This gave the Borough a well-deserved and comfortable lead in a 5-goal quarter.
The Borough boys played smart in the second term, utilising handballs to carry the ball as the night dew settled in. Marcus Lentini scored a well-deserved goal after strong efforts and a solid percentage of possession of the ball to start the night. Szust kicked two smooth goals for the term and the defensive work from the Borough remained strong to push the lead to 26-points at half time.
A quick goal from Nash Holmes coming out in the second half extended the lead to a game high 34-points, early in the third. The Borough then worked to win the clearance out of the middle and work the ball forward. Paul Hunter had a personal above average 28 hit outs for the night. 10 more marks than the Blues over the course of the night assisted with Port Melbourne’s possession of the ball and ability to cleanly move forward.
Carlton responded well coming into the final term and were able to get some goals on the board. Hard work had to remain in place to hold the lead for the remainder of the night as Carlton closed the margin. Anthony Anastasio had one final look at goal but missed just short, however, the point gave Port Melbourne a chance to build a wall and prevent any later goals from the Blues to secure the win.
Next Sunday Port Melbourne face Collingwood for a second home game in a row with the bounce kicking off the game at 12:00pm.
Port Melbourne 14.9 93 defeated Carlton 14.6 90
