By Jackson Russell
Kilmore put its season back on track after three straight losses with a 65-point win over Heidelberg West at home on Saturday.
The Blues were sluggish out of the starting blocks, kicking just one goal in the first term to trail by nine points at quarter time.
Kilmore rectified the slow start in the second term, booting seven goals to one to lead by 37 points at half-time.
The lead could’ve been even greater with the Blues kicking 10 behinds from 17 scoring shots.
The Hawks were able to close the gap, albeit only slightly, with a two goal to one third term but the Blues still held a commanding 32-point lead at three-quarter time.
Kilmore put the nail in the coffin in final term, kicking six goals while holding Heidelberg West goalless to run away with the win.
Kilmore coach Nathan Phillips said it was a good way to bounce back out of a bit of a slump.
“Credit to the boys to back themselves in and believe in themselves to fight back. If we’d kicked a bit straighter in the second, we could’ve put the game to bed at half-time but it was a good response,” he said.
“I think we just got back to playing our style of footy. When we were under pressure the last few weeks, the boys seemed rushed.
“We just told them to back themselves in, be confident over the ball and know if we would have enough time to dispose of the footy.”
Phillips said Adam Milne had a great game playing across half back.
“He was third man up quite a bit and he’s not necessarily a tall player but he got in the way and rebounded outside 50 for us,” he said.
Kilmore remains third on the Northern Football Netball League division three ladder with the win, two games back from Panton Hill and half a game ahead of South Morang.
The Blues take on Panton Hill on the road this week before hosting Lalor in the final round.
“Going down there, Panton Hill is a very high scoring side at home so even if the result doesn’t go our way, if we can shut them down like we did at home and be in the contest, we’ll take a lot out of that to know we can compete in finals,” Phillips said.
“We’re going down with the intent to beat them and we’ll take plenty of confidence in the way we played against them earlier in the year.”
Kilmore 15.14 (104) def Heidelberg West 5.9 (39)
KILMORE
Goals: N. Zaharakis 3, S. Skidmore 3, J. Kinnear 2, M. Webb 2, K. Binion 2, B. Cooney, M. Swindells, Z. Pettit.
Best: A. Milne, G. Paxton, L. Chapman, M. Swindells, S. Skidmore, T. McMillan
HEIDELBERG WEST
Goals: J. Marris 2, R. Offer 2, B. Fogarty.
Best: B. Fogarty, B. Manton McCarthy, S. Guthrie, J. Marris, D. Offer, R. Offer
