Ryan Simpson takes a safe chest mark deep in defence for Hampton Park on Saturday. Picture: Mike Richards.By Brad Kingsbury
HAMPTON Park finally found a little of its 2005 form to down a determined Keysborough by 39 points in front of a big crowd at the Booth Reserve on Saturday.
Redback players had their backs against the wall after coming under intense scrutiny in the press over recent weeks due to poor form and what appeared to be an indifferent attitude.
That forced coach Jason Chapple to revert to an oldstyle build up to Saturday’s crucial game.
“We had a fullscale practice match on Tuesday night with the seniors playing the reserves,” he said.
“I told them that every player was playing for a place in the senior side, put away the whistle and let them go for it.”
The upshot of the exercise was eight changes to the senior side, a stack of positional changes and renewed commitment.
Keysborough sprung a surprise with star fullforward Luke McGuinness taking the field despite reports that he had badly injured a knee the week before.
He appeared unhampered and kicked six goals for the day, but it was not enough to see his side home.
Chapple played a running defence with captain Josh Taylor joining Ryan Simpson and Chris Hussey in the backline, while veteran Mick O’Brien tagged Burra captain Adam Williams effectively.
The first half remained even on the scoreboard with the home side going into the main break five points ahead, but the Redbacks had the majority of the play early in the game and appeared to have the answers to Keysborough’s rugged, inclose style of game.
After halftime Hampton Park lifted again and kicked away, booting 10 goals to five in a muchimproved effort.
Chapple was relieved by the turnaround in form and said that he was confident his side could continue the trend after the interleague break.
“It was just a confidence thing really, but the commitment was just fantastic,” he said.
“Our main focus was ‘how far would you go for your mate?’ and it was an excellent response when the question was asked.”
“Everything we did worked and that was satisfying. The whole club stood up and win, lose or draw the effort has to be like that from now on.”
Eric Singh was best afield, while his Redback teammates O’Brien, Brett Armitage, Scott Eastwood and Matt Shorey also stood out.
The Burra’s better players included McGuinness, Matt Freeman, Daniel Morland and firstgamer and former Doveton player Robert Norris.
