NQ too strong for Spirit
Monday, 20 July 2009
A tardy start sealed their destiny as Bundaberg Spirit were overwhelmed by North Queensland Razorbacks 7-2 in their clash in Townsville on Saturday night.
A tall order became an impossible mountain to climb for the Spirit, who had made the long road trip north with just 13 players, when key defender Jason De Papi succumbed to a knee injury inside the first 10 minutes.
The Razorbacks pounced with David Mayes drawing first blood in the 16th minute, but while the Spirit equalised via Mitchell Hancock four minutes later, they were stunned as
North Queensland seized total control with five more goals in quick succession.
Firstly Mayes converted from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute, and with Bundaberg knocked to the canvas, he struck again to complete a personal hat-trick three minutes later, and with all the momentum behind them, everything the Razorbacks touched turned into gold.
Down 6-1 at the break, anything could have happened, but the Spirit salvaged some pride by battling out a 1-1 second half despite losing captain Brett Kitching with a nasty head gash five minutes into the second stanza, leaving them with no more reserves.
It took until the 71st minute for the hosts to extend their lead, but the goal was balanced by a second by Hancock for Bundaberg.
Spirit coach Brett Hambrecht refused to blame the effects of the arduous overnight bus trip for their early lethargy and ultimate drubbing.
“We just looked blunt for most of the first half – they were sharper and they ran at us and past us and we were a lit slow to react – they played better footy than us and the result showed – they set themselves up for the whole match,’’ Hambrecht said.
“There’s not much we can do about the travel – we had to make the trip but on the night, playing in front of their home crowd, it took us a while to get going, but it didn’t happen the other time when we played the (Whitsunday) Miners in Mackay, so it’s not an excuse – it’s just something we have to deal with.
“As always, we never stopped trying, but when you are down by five, you can only compete after that and try to reduce the end result and keep the damage minimal, but to their credit, we again competed really tough and hard in the second half.’’
Hambrecht praised Hancock for his double but he was happy with the effort of all his players.
“Mitch scored both our goals and deserves special mention – he played strong in the middle and was rewarded with two really well taken goals,’’ he said.
“Also thanks to Luke Metcalf, who helped us out again as a guest player, and he came on down the back for (De) Papi and played pretty good - Jason Loft came on up front for Kitch and also did well.’’
The Spirit face an even longer trip this Saturday when they take on Far North Queensland at Mareeba, and the Bulls will be keen to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Miners, but Hambrecht is hoping that they may be able to travel by plane to give them a better chance of breaking through for their first win of the season.
“It is a game we can win if we have got our best team on the park and have a good preparation, and if we can fly there, it will give us our best shot,’’ he said.
Vince Habermann
Vince Habermann
