They say bad kicking is bad football, and so it was at Teac Oval at the weekend,  when the Northern Bullants kicked themselves out of the traditional Anzac Day fixture with Port Melbourne at Teac Oval.

The ridiculous final quarter return of 3.10 to Port’s 2.4 saw the visitors go down by five points, 13.14 (92) to 11.21 (87), leaving a frustrated coach David Teague to ponder what might have been at Visy Park this week.

“To finish with 3.10 to go down by five points was very disappointing . . . of the ten points I’d back us in to kick eight generally, and even (Port coach) Gary Ayres said after the game that they were a bit lucky to get away with it,” Teague said.

“We didn’t dominate on the scoreboard for three quarters, but we dominated possessions and the game was played on our terms. But we dropped our guard in the third quarter and they capitalised to kick five goals, which was enough to keep them in front by game’s end.”

Though Bret Thornton was a late withdrawal with an ankle problem, Jarrad Waite performed soundly and is pushing for senior selection when Carlton fronts Collingwood in the MCG blockbuster on Sunday.

Amongst the better performers for the Bullants were Richard Hadley, whose leadership qualities again came to the fore, together with Shaun Grigg.

“Richard was outstanding with his physicality in close, and some of his inside 50 kicking was the best I’ve seen. Shaun Grigg had a 15-possession first quarter and ended up our leading possession getter across half-back and on-ball,” Teague said. Also deserving of special mention were Sam Jacobs who dominated the ruck contests, together with David Ellard and Simon Wiggins.

End result aside, Teague was pleased with the way his players went about their business, and is in no doubt they’ll rebound strongly this weekend.

The Bullants now confront Frankston at Visy Park on Saturday, both combatants having chalked up a win from three starts.

Port Melbourne       3.3     6.4     11.10 13.14-92
Northern Bullants    4.5     7.10  8.11  11.21-87

Port Melbourne
Goal Kickers: A. Bentick 2, B. Burstin 2, A. Bonaddio 2, C. Sinclair 2, M. Lynch 2, T. Pinwill, S. Valenti, N. Batsanis
Best Players: S. Brewer, T. Pinwill, S. Pleming, A. Bentick, B. Burstin, N. Batsanis

Northern Bullants
Goal Kickers: S. Wiggins 4, A. Arrowsmith 3, J. Anderson, R. Gale, C. Johnson, S. Grigg
Best Players: R. Hadley, S. Grigg, J. McCorkell, J. Waite, S. Jacobs, S. Wiggins