By Jackson Russell
Whittlesea suffered their second loss of the season, going down to Fitzroy Stars by 31 points on the road on Saturday.
Whittlesea drops to fourth on the NFNL division two ladder after the loss with a 3-2 record.
A tight first half saw multiple lead changes as the Eagles were just three points behind at quarter time.
Whittlesea put themselves in front, but only just, at half-time with a two goal to one second term giving them a two point lead.
Things went pear-shaped for the Eagles in the third term as Fitzroy Stars booted 7.3.45 to 1.3.9 to take a commanding 34-point lead into the final break.
Whittlesea coach Blair Harvey said the Eagles struggled to stop Fitzroy’s momentum in the third quarter.
“They kicked one or two really quickly and got their tail up. They played really well in that third quarter,” he said.
“Our midfield was clearly beaten in that third quarter and their delivery was hard for our backmen to defend.”
Whittlesea fought in the final term but it wasn’t enough as the Stars held on to win at home.
Harvey said one positive was the performance of 17-year-old Zach Molloy.
“Young Zack Malloy from Calder Cannons played his first senior game with us, he played really well in the back pocket,” he said.
“Our backline was really positive. Max Dyson played a great game for us down back too. Our backline stood up pretty well against the pressure they were put under by Fitzroy’s midfield.
“Hopefully we can bounce back this week, we get a few back from injury so hopefully we can build some momentum for the second half of the year.”
Fitzroy Stars 11.13 (79) def Whittlesea 6.12 (48)
FITZROY STARS Goals: H. Heta 2, D. Thorpe-Morgan 2, J. Hayes 2, J. Ellis 2, R. Karpany, R. Livingstone, J. Firebrace.
Best: C. Hall, J. Saveka, L. Proctor, K. Proctor, J. Firebrace, A. Norris.
WHITTLESEA Goals: N. Pupillo 2, T. Falls, S. Indian , E. Gorski, P. Higgins.
Best: P. Higgins, X. Dimasi, Z. Molloy, M. Dyson, M. Coen, N. Pupillo
