PEEL Thunder fell short against the Subiaco Lions by 52 points at Leederville Oval on Friday night , after failing to kick a goal in the first three quarters.
With a spot in the finals up for grabs, Peel failed to capitalise against the undefeated Lions, finishing 9.15 (69) to 2.5 (17).
The Thunder’s Corey Morris said the disappointing defeat highlighted the different skill level of both teams.
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READ NOW“Unfortunately we weren’t quite there with them and their class just shone through,” he said.
“We were certainly under the pump down back, so I guess I just tried to play my role and defend as well as I could to try help the team and try stem that flow of goals from Subi.”
Peel were unable to secure their only two goals until the final term.
Morris said the Thunder’s poor ball movement out of defence restricted them from gaining any momentum in the third term.
“We just couldn’t get the chain from our back line up to the forward line and when we did, we just seemed to make silly little errors that then prevented us from getting it forward,” he said.
“Subi’s back line just rolled off well and stopped us from getting inside 50.”
The team returned from the three-quarter-time break with fire in their bellies as Matthew Piggott and Luke Strnadica converted Peel’s only goals for the game.
Ben Howlett (20 disposals and eight tackles) and Blair Bell (18 disposals and seven tackles) were among Peel’s best in the loss.
Morris said moving forward, the Thunder will take it game by game, but they’ll have to take out the majority of the remaining rounds to make finals.
“We’ll review the game, see where we did go wrong, and then we’ll work on those improvements for next week to make sure we’re sharp against Perth,” he said.
Peel Thunder will face Perth Demons on Saturday at Lathlain Park.