The Borough fall down in the final term | Round 17 Match Report
By Zoe Greenhill, Borough Media on July 18, 2022
Round 17 of the VFL home and away season saw Port Melbourne face Collingwood at ETU Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Wintery conditions opened the game with strong winds and heavy rain. The Borough prevailed throughout the whole afternoon but ended up falling short by 33 points.
Eli Templeton had a brilliant game with 32 touches of the footy and one goal. Corey Wagner also had a valuable impact on the afternoon with 30 disposals and 5 tackles. Skipper Tom O’Sullivan, again brought a high level of pressure around the ball with 7 tackles, keeping Collingwood on their toes.
The possession was 50/50 for the entirety of the day with plenty of opportunities inside 50 for the Borough. The first quarter was tight, and the Borough were working hard to bring the ball forward. 2 goals were conceded by Fletcher Roberts and Matthew Signorello. The Pies were able to get 4 major scores, and combined with a few behinds, they sat 11 points up at the first break.
During the second quarter, Port Melbourne struggled to gain possession as the Pies kicked 4 goals. Jake Gasper kicked an early goal, but it wasn’t until 32 minutes into the term that Gasper was able to break the drought and kick a final goal for the Borough and tighten the margin going into half time. Strong defensive work from Nick Burke, Tom Cameron and Nash Holmes meant Collingwood were unable to get any more goals, and the game was still anyone’s to win with a half of footy still to go. Impactful and in-form forward, Archi Manton went down in the term with a lower leg injury and was sidelined for the remainder of the match.
The third quarter brought out some of Port Melbourne’s best footy. 5 unanswered goals from Signorello, Lentini, Hooper, Templeton and Gasper from the first bounce gave the Borough the lead for the first time for the day. The game was then neck and neck as the Borough continued to push the ball forward at every opportunity. Going into the final break, the Pies had a tight 3-point lead leaving a big final quarter brewing.
Port Melbourne worked strongly to hold the margin close and regain the lead, however Collingwood were the stronger side on the day, leading to the 33-point loss. Next week Port Melbourne head to Trevor Barker Beach Oval to face Sandringham on Sunday the 24th of July, with the first bounce kicking off at 1:05pm.
Port Melbourne 11.9 75 defeated by Collingwood 16.12 108
