Western Jets ticked all the boxes in their best four quarter performance of the TAC Cup season.
The Jets briefly moved into the top four on Saturday night after their commanding 24-point win over Geelong Falcons at the Williamstown Cricket Ground before settling into fifth spot by the end of the round.
Jets coach Torin Baker was thrilled with his side’s showing after some patchy recent form.
“The Falcons had a pretty strong team in, so I’m just proud with the way the boys played to be honest,” he said.
“It was a really windy day, which is typical down at Williamstown, the conditions were really hard to play in, but I thought we handled them really well.
“Everything we planned for tended to come to fruition.
“The boys didn’t overuse the footy, they got it back in their forward half, they were really good around the ball and their pressure to maintain the footy in the forward half was excellent.”
Stefan Radovanovic was again at the forefront of the victory for the Western Jets.
Not even a finger injury could slow Radovanovic down as he compiled another stellar showing in the Jets midfield.
“He actually had to come off the field in the second quarter with a finger injury that needed some treatment and got some protection on it to play the rest of the half,” Baker said.
“His second half was just as good a footy as you could hope from him.
“He’s had a very good start to the year and a very good TAC Cup career to date.”
Zak Butters and Xavier O’Halloran kept up their usually high standards up with some fine work in the midfield.
Daly Andrews, a smooth moving wing/half back with polished delivery, shone once again.
Darcy Cassar’s three goals were huge in tough scoring conditions on a day when the Jets only managed nine goals to the Falcons’ seven, despite having 14 more scoring shots.
Cassar is beginning to cement his place within the team.
“Last week he had a bit of a nearly game, won plenty of the footy and didn’t quite execute on the day, but he’s working hard at his footy and it was pleasing to see him finish off his good work this week,” Baker said.
“He played four games last year as a 16 year old, so he’s been a talented boy that we’ve known about for a fair while.
“He’s really blessed athletically with good speed and endurance, and a strong body as well.”
Western Jets will feature in a blockbuster against third placed Oakleigh Chargers at Warrawee Park on Sunday morning.
