Port Melbourne triumph under Friday night lights

By Ferguson Hickey on August 1, 2023

A scintillating Friday night performance has seen Port Melbourne beat the Coburg Lions 80 to 70.

In what is a massive weekend for the club the boys got it started perfectly with a big win in front of the home crowd at ETU Stadium, the same ground playing host to the VFLW Grand Final on Sunday.

A massive performance in front of the goals from Archi Manton helped steer the Borough to victory as he kicked five goals straight. 

Fraser Rosman was also a highlight for the Borough as he was a constant source of run and dash from half back, ending the contest with 24 touches, 17 of them being kicks as well as eight marks.

Kyle Viccars also backed up his performance last week but in a different way, as he was still able to kick a goal but his impact was felt through his 12 tackles for the night.

Bryce Milford was able to get Port Melbourne off to the perfect start as he was able to kick his first goal for the Borough in his new role as a forward.

Archi Manton was able to get his night underway with two consecutive goals, with the first coming from a smoothly taken set shot and the second after he roved Sam Naismith’s tap work in the goal square.

Milford proved his move forward an inspired one, as he kicked his second of the night.

Port were able to capitalise on being the better team that quarter as they went into quarter time with a 14-point lead.

The inform pocket rocket Kyle Viccars continued his hot form with the opening goal of the second, to help build out the Borough’s lead to 20 points.

A creative goal out of nothing saw Manton kick his third for the night after a terrific right foot snap in congestion.

A lot of the ball and territory had been dominated by the Lions in the second quarter, but the Borough backline was able to hold itself in a good condition and limit the bleeding. Port go into the halftime break with a four-point lead.

Another perfect start to another half as a quick clearance and then inside 50 from skipper Harvey Hooper found Manton’s hands, as the inform key forward bagged his fourth for the evening.

Coburg got the instance response with their own goal, and a second consecutive goal saw Coburg take their first lead of the game.

Two set-shots from almost identical spots on the ground to Jake Gasper and Nash Holmes saw the Borough regain the lead after they got the game back on their terms.

Those two goals saw Port Melbourne take an important four-point lead into the final break.

The all important first goal of the final quarter was kicked by the man who had been kicking all the needed goals for the Borough, as Archi Manton kicked his fifth for the night to give the Borough some breathing space.

Two consecutive goals from Coburg saw the game all tied, but a but a great bit of forward pressure led to Jake Gasper kicking the winning goal, as with a few behinds the Borough was able to hold on as 10-point winners.

The big win saw the Borough end a three-game losing streak, as Port Melbourne will go into their final bye of the season before they face the Richmond VFL side in two weeks’ time.

Port Melbourne 11.14 def Coburg Lions 10.10

Goals: A. Manton 5, J. Gasper, B. Milford 2, K. Viccars, N. Holmes

Twitter: @Ferg_Hickey36