GIPPSLAND Power’s young side was taught a brutal lesson in a massive 18.17 (125) to 4.8 (32) defeat at the hands of the Geelong Falcons in round three of the TAC Cup at the weekend.
Four changes were made to the selected side with captain Ben Ainsworth and key defender Josh Patullo unavailable in a big blow for the Power, while Jedd Serong made his debut.
It didn’t take long for the Falcons to clinically exploit the relative inexperience of the Power and they had two easy goals on the board in quick time.
The Power defence was doing a fine job to stop the flow of goals and it wasn’t until late in the quarter that the Falcons could extend their goal tally to three and the lead to 22.
In stark contrast, the Power had only six forward 50 entries and no real chances to kick a goal of their own.
The Falcons opened the second term’s scoring but the Power hit back after some fine work from Ryan Hearn up forward.
Wholesale turnovers, poor decision making and some sloppy ball use allowed the Falcons to consolidate and build a 46-point lead by half-time.
Tyrone Hayes kicked a running goal to start the third term on the right foot for the Power but the joy ended there as Falcons scored five unanswered majors through the remainder of the term.
At the final break the Falcons’ lead was out to 73 points and counting; they booted five more unanswered goals in the fourth to put the match to bed.
The Power kept focus and stemmed the flow of goals with positive ball use, especially when under pressure.
Nathan Voss was able to kick a fine goal on the back of forward pressure, then some purpose and poise from Anthony Young and Jai Rout set up Hearn for the last major of the match.
In a plus for the Power, Ainsworth will be available for the side’s match against the Murray Bushrangers at Box Hill on Sunday.
