By Will Jeffares
A run of six unanswered Footscray goals across the middle two periods has seen the Bulldogs fend off a spirited Frankston side by 17 points on Friday night at a chilly Kinetic Stadium.
After a tight opening quarter and a half between the two sides, the Dolphins will be ruing their missed opportunities in front of goal early in the second term, with a run of four consecutive behinds compounded by four Bulldogs majors, as the visitors broke the game open to enter the main break with a healthy lead.
Despite a late fightback from Frankston in the final quarter, Footscray were able to hold strong on their way to the 12.13 (85) to 15.12 (102) result.
The Bulldogs drew first blood early, before Kobe Askew won a freekick and put through his first VFL major, much to the delight of his teammates and the Frankston crowd.
After Footscray put two more on the board, Seb Quirk got one back from the set shot after also winning himself a freekick. A late goal for the visitors saw them hold a two-goal lead at quarter time.
Askew got his second a few minutes into the second quarter, strolling into an open goal after Matt Johnson unselfishly handed it off to the youngster.
The Dolphins squandered several opportunities to take the lead before the Bulldogs piled on four goals to end the half, with the margin sitting at 28 points.
Footscray continued where they left off after the restart, adding two more majors to their lead, getting it out to a game-high 40 points early in the third quarter.
While Frankston tried to hit back and cut into the deficit, they had all three goals for the term quickly cancelled out by Footscray. Clayton Gay dribbled home his first in the VFL, with Matt Johnson and Corey Ellison also getting on the scoresheet. However, the Footscray lead sat at 38 points at the final break.
While a comeback looked like a long shot, it was the perfect start to the final quarter for Frankston as Tom Murphy snapped a beauty from distance inside the opening 30 seconds, but the Bulldogs once again responded in quick fashion.
The Dolphins’ fightback continued, however, with Ellison, Tom Blamires, Noah Gown and Blake O’Leary all converting to make it four in a row as the margin got back to 17 points late in the piece.
While a goal for Footscray put the final nail in the coffin, milestone man Nick Burke ended the defeat on a high note, kicking a goal after the siren in his 50th VFL game to see the final margin sitting at 17 points.
Jackson Voss was superb all night for Frankston, racking up a team-high 37 disposals, as well as finishing with nine marks, eight intercept possessions and 13 rebound 50s in yet another fantastic performance.
Taine Barlow was excellent in defence, collecting 24 disposals, seven marks and 14 intercept possessions as he continues his strong form. Ollie Moran (21 disposals, six marks) and Joe Lloyd (11 disposals, five intercept possessions) also stood tall down back.
Skipper Trent Mynott (29 disposals, six score involvements, five clearances) put in a great display around the ball, as did Tom Murphy (one goal, 25 disposals, six inside 50s) and Seb Quirk (one goal, 23 disposals, six tackles, five clearances), with the latter unfortunately going down with injury during the contest.
Blake O’Leary was also a strong contributor, finishing with 25 disposals and nine intercept possessions to go along with a major.
Attention now turns to an important clash next week against Essendon on Saturday night back at Kinetic Stadium, with the first bounce at 7:10 PM (AEST).
FRANKSTON 2.2 3.7 6.11 12.13 (85)
FOOTSCRAY 4.2 8.5 13.7 15.12 (102)
GOALS
Ellison 2, Askew 2, Gay, Burke, Murphy, Quirk, Johnson, Gown, B. O’Leary, Blamires
BEST
Voss, Barlow, Mynott, Moran, Murphy
