So near, yet so far. It’s been a repetitive story in Victorian Amateur Football Association division 4 for Point Cook under first-year coach Ian Denny.
The Bulldogs were again competitive against a finals contender on Saturday but lost to the Manningham Cobras by four points in a hard-fought, low-scoring contest away at Koonung Reserve.
Things might have been different had Chris Matcham got a bit more length on a late set shot from 40 metres out that fell agonisingly short in the game’s final moments.
The Cobras won 11.7 (73) to 10.9 (69).
“We’ve been close to all of these top teams and just haven’t been able to get over the line,” Denny said.
It’s been a season of change for Point Cook.
A new coach and subsequent rejuvenation of the playing list has seen the Dogs transition from a finals hopeful to a mid-table plodder.
They are 6-10, a true reflection of where the playing group is at after a number of key off-season exits from the club.
But Denny is bullish about the future.
“It was a two steps back, three steps forward type of year for the club,” he said.
“We lost a lot of players at the end of last year, just through being at the club for four years and having a new coach. We just had to re-establish ourselves as a club.”
Making the task more difficult has been the ever-changing nature of the line-up.
A combination of injury and unavailability made for a year of instability.
Last week, Denny lost co-captain Barry Langley to a season-ending knee injury, while this week centre half-forward Julian Mandahl missed to attend a wedding. “For one reason or another, we haven’t been able to get a full deck on the park every week,” Denny said.
“With what we’ve had, we’ve put up some really creditable performances in the second half of the season.”
The light at the end of the tunnel is the performances of youngsters such as Mason Kip and Robbie Milne.
Milne, a rebounding half-back, could go close to taking out the Bulldogs’ best and fairest.
Kip showed his versatility by filling in for the absent Mandahl in the forward line.
“They are the ones who will take this club forward; they’re really good kids,” Denny said.
Paul Hegarty, the other co-captain, was best- on-ground in the loss to the Cobras.
But the Bulldogs had no cover for Cobras spearhead Dylan Wolfgramm, who booted five goals.
“He went forward and won three one-on-one contests and kicked three goals in the last quarter,” Denny said. “We had more than enough opportunities but didn’t have anyone step up to the plate.”
Old Westbourne Grammarians kept their ever-so-slight finals chances alive with a 22-point win over the Dragons at the Westbourne school ground.
Nikko Arias, Shane Wallace and Arnel Davis snared three goals apiece for the Warriors, who rebounded from a 20-point quarter-time deficit with 10 goals to five in the remaining three terms.
