The confidence of the Ararat Rats took another massive hit on Saturday when they were handed a 66-point thumping at the hands of Wimmera Football League ladder leader Horsham.
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The 16.11 (107) to 6.5 (41) defeat was Ararat's biggest loss of the season and has seen the fifth placed Rats lose ground on the other finals' contenders, while reigning premier Dimboola is closing in fast in sixth position.
Joint-coach David Hosking said Ararat's last three weeks, which has seen it lose by an average margin of 53 points, is more than just a mid-season hiccup.
"It is a complete breakdown and loss of form and confidence. We have been trying different things to get it back, but that clearly is not working quick enough," he said.
"What do we take away from the match? The answer is not much, I really just think it shows the gap between the consistency level and professional level we have to get to.
"I don't even know if they are the best team we have played, because I've still got Dimboola in that category, but I'll tell you what Horsham are they're the best disciplined, organised and coached team in the competition."
The Demons were relentless from the opening bounce at Alexandra Oval, penetrating the ball deep inside their forward-50 which saw them build a healthy 29-point buffer by quarter time.
Goals to Jake Robinson, who was playing his first senior match for the Rats this season and Beau Cosson gave the home side some hope, but Hosking said the first term was simply another bad start.
"Contrast it with Minyip the week before where we started well and kicked 0.6. They come out and start well, kick seven straight goals and you are behind the eight ball straight away," he said.
"The reason they kicked seven straight was that they kept getting the ball in areas where they had very gettable shots."
The second quarter was an improvement from the Rats, with Cosson kicking two of the first three goals of the term, but Horsham's pressure continued to force turnovers which cost Ararat any chance of closing the gap further.
It must have felt like a bad case of d j vu for Hosking and Andrew Louder, with the Rats reduced to one interchange rotation before halftime for the second consecutive week as James Laidlaw (broken hand) and Zach Louder (knee) were both taken to hospital.
Ararat continued to battle hard in the third term, with the ultra consistent Brady Miller and swingman Liam Cavanagh particularly prominent in defence.
While the three quarter time Demons' lead was an insurmountable 43 points, Hosking said there were some positive signs.
“I think for periods of the second and third quarters we did (match it with Horsham), but the problem was even when we were outplaying them we weren’t hurting them on the scoreboard,” he said.
“I thought our defence stood up pretty well and I thought our midfield had a period in the game, whilst they weren’t dominant, they were certainly breaking even with Horsham.
“I thought Brady was a clear winner in the backline and in fact I’d nearly go as far as to have him in as the best player on the ground even though he was on the losing side.”
The Rats were also well served through the centre by onballers Jack and Harry Ganley, while the strong body of Aaron Searle was important during the clash.
Ararat had its chances in the final quarter to continue to at least match it with the Demons on the scoreboard, but the team played indirect football which saw it waste opportunities.
Hosking said the side reverted back to old habits in the fourth term.
“We started going sideways coming out of the middle and chipping the ball around when we should have been going direct,” he said.
“I don’t know if we necessarily throw the towel in, but I don’t think we persist for long enough.”
Hosking praised the efforts of Cavanagh, with the forward-turned-backman restricting Horsham goal scorer Sean Christopher to two majors for the match.
“He finished with two, so I think that is a win for us because he has been kicking bags of goals,” Hosking said.
“I thought in one-on-one contests, most times Liam beat him. I think certainly next week Cav will probably start (in defence) again, I thought he went really well.”
Hosking said Ararat’s next two weeks would be season defining.
“We have got to beat Warracknabeal and then we have to beat Dimboola,” he said.
“Then A – it will give us back some credibility and B – it keeps us in the five.
“We have some work to do, we have to win this week and it has nothing to do with redemption and everything to do with staying in the five and keeping our finals’ hope alive.”