By: Joseph Arthur
KNOX senior coach David Madigan says he was relieved to see a four quarter effort from his side’s 14-point upset win over Lilydale in Round 6.
After patches of good football in recent weeks, Madigan’s side took its season to 2-4 to stay in touch with Division 1’s top five, knocking off a previously-undefeated Lilydale outfit away from home.
“We probably felt over the last couple of weeks we hadn’t had a great level of resolve when our opposition really pushed us,” Madigan said.
“’We really pushed the boys and they responded with a four quarter effort, that was our focus, so we are pretty happy with the level of resilience they showed.”
A strong first quarter set the tone for Knox’s win, kicking six goals to one and building enough of a lead for Madigan’s men to hold on for the remainder of the day as Lilydale fought back.
Strong efforts from the midfield impressed the coach, who said that the players’ belief in their own abilities played a key role in the upset.
“I thought our midfield was really good all day,” Madigan said.
“They (Lilydale) have been playing quality football all season, they’ve got (Beau) Mitchener as a terrific ruckman and a great bunch of mosquito fleet that are bundled with him.
“We were really happy with guys like Damian Byrne, Mitch Greaves, John Rafferty, Liam Riley, the guys that had some really big jobs on those players, to really stick to their tasks for four quarters.
“We just got lots of little bits and pieces right (on Saturday) for long enough.”
Despite the victory, Madigan was disappointed that his side’s form had put them in such a high pressure, must-win situation. A slow start to the year means that there’s plenty of work to be done over the next few weeks to completely right the ship.
“I think we’ve lost some winnable games and probably under-performed in a few of those so I think we are a little bit disappointed,” Madigan said.
“We’re travelling out to Lilydale yesterday (last Saturday) in a really, sort of must-win situation, otherwise the season’s going to slip past pretty quickly.
The next couple of weeks are going to play a big part in the remainder of the season for Knox, coming up against Doncaster East and Croydon, with both teams currently sitting in the top three on the ladder with only a single loss each.
Madigan said that consistency and continued effort over the next few games will be vital in gaining some momentum and building upon the win against Lilydale.
“You need to work hard to earn your points every weekend,” Madigan said.
“The level of pressure, the level of skills, the way teams are just structuring up and moving the ball, it’s improved significantly.
“They (Doncaster East) have added some really quality footballers onto their list and we actually have a really good history of two teams that really battle it out, we’re looking forward to seeing them again next week.”
The match-up will take place at Knox Gardens Reserve this Saturday afternoon as Knox looks to string together back-to-back wins for the first time in 2019.