Maitland Saints heavy reliance on midfield aces Jim Taranto and Wade Beard was exposed on Saturday with a seven-goal third-quarter blitz led by Newcastle City’s Matthew Enright.
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Beard, who was carrying an ankle injury, played up forward for the entire match and wasn’t able to join Taranto in trying to stem City’s run.
The 35-point margin in the premiership term was the difference between the two sides, with the Saints outscoring the Blues by one-point over the remainder of the game.
Midfielder Enright, a regular member of City’s premier league team, showed his class in his second game back from injury.
“We clicked in the third term and I think the biggest thing was our talk,” Enright said.
The Blues won the centre clearances and were able to commit players to every contest and have outside runners to receive the ball and deliver it up forward.
When Enright wasn’t winning his own ball he was playing the role of midfield general directing players to space behind or in front of the contest.
The Saints defence, which has become a solid unit under key defenders Andrew Elbourn and Dean Notman, was unable to withstand the bombardment.
They were further hampered when the talented Mitch Greaves was forced from the ground with a groin strain.
At the other end, the forward line led by captain Rob Eddy, who is in terrific touch in front of goals, centre-half forward Matthew Hogan and goal sneak Aiden Damico were starved of the ball.
The forwards are a potent force when supplied with the ball, as the result in the other three quarters demonstrated.
The Saints inexperience across the midfield was magnified when fatigue set in and coach Steve Mitchell said too many players were caught out of position by ball watching.
“I think we got caught out ball watching in the third quarter. They were waiting for the ball to come to them rather than positioning themselves to take advantage of quick kicks out of the packs or to cut off switch plays by City,” Mitchell said.
Luke Damico was a real thorn in City’s side with his pace and ability to provide the link between the forward and backlines.
But City overcame this by cutting him out of the game moving their attack down the opposite flank.
Several times City had two or three players unmarked at bounces and throw ins and each time won the contest and sped into attack.
Natural attacking players, Beard and Taranto when fit have been able to will themselves to contests to win back the ball.
But when they are not at the top of their game, the Saints lack of organisation around contests is exposed and oppositions are able to score quickly and blow games away.
The young players introduced to the senior team this year have shown remarkable development but for the team to take its game to the next level it needs a midfield controller similar to Enright.
When fatigue sets in and concentration drops off the midfield general can drill the players on field and reset their game plan.
That the Saints were in the game for all but one quarter is a huge testament to the team, which has been undermanned because of more than a dozen injuries and regularly has to field six or more players across the first and second division games.
Maitland will benefit from the return from injury of regular first graders, but they still need to recruit or groom players to take on the role of the onfield midfield mentor who can lead the communication.
DIVISION ONE
Newcastle City 1.6, 4.7, 11.10, 12.12-84
Maitland 2.2, 4.5, 5.5, 7.8-50
NEWCASTLE CITY: Goals: M. Enright 3, J. Cleaver 3, S. Akers 2, H. Keast 2, S. Edwards 2 Best: S. Edwards, M. Enright, H. Kavanagh, B. Cornwall, S. Akers, J. Matthews
MAITLAND: Goals: W. Beard 3, R. Eddy 2, A. Damico , D. Davey Best: L. Sargent, D. Notman, L. Damico, A. Elbourn, J. McFadyen, J. Taranto
DIVISION TWO
Newcastle City 6.3, 9.9, 15.12, 16.14
Maitland 2.1, 2.2, 4.3, 6.5-41
NEWCASTLE CITY: Goals: R. Pfeiffer 7, B. Weir 2, A. Dalton 2, D. Gardiner , J. Fluechter , D. Herring , R. Davies , G. Murdoch Bests: O. Geard, O. James, R. Pfeiffer, E. Langdon, R. James, A. Thorpe
MAITLAND: Goals: D. Yager 3, D. Morgan 2, P. Taylor. Best: H. Matheson, D. Hardidge, S. Davies, L. Brandle, G. Davies, C. Sargent
