By Lance Jenkinson
It all went belly up at exactly the wrong time of the season for Albanvale in the Western Region Football League division 3 competition.
The Cobras were the most dependable team all winter, but come grand final day, they could barely land a blow in a 26-point loss to Glen Orden at the VU Whitten Oval on Saturday.
Cobras coach Andrew Bryson could not fault his side’s energy levels or effort, but was miffed as to why the connection of his team broke down on the most important day of the season.
“The energy and effort was there, it was just the execution that let us down,” he said. “We weren’t able to hit our targets, we over-cooked the ball too many times and we were nowhere near as clean as we had been for the most part of the year.
Albanvale was on the back foot from the word go.
PHOTO GALLERY: WRFL division 3 grand final
The Cobras trailed by 19 points at quarter-time and just looked a step off the pace because their skills let them down.
They breathed life into the contest in the second quarter, but their return of 2.5 for the quarter was not ideal as they still trailed by two goals at half-time.
The third quarter was combative from both sides and led to yellow cards being shown to Glen Orden’s Jhoshuar Dean and Soni Rainbow.
The Cobras are proud of their minor premiership and the fans are slowly coming back to the club with lots of blue and white in the stands on Saturday.
Bryson, who has committed to the club for the next two seasons, is confident that 2019 can be a stepping stone for future success.
