By Colin MacGillivray
A SLOPPY second quarter set the stage for Kilmore’s 70-point loss to Laurimar in the first round of Northern Football Netball League division three action, but Blues coach Paul Derrick saw reason for optimism in the performance.
Kilmore fielded a younger side than in previous seasons after losing experienced players including two-time league best-and-fairest Chris Ryall over the summer, and were handed a tough first-up game against the 2022 runners-up.
Kicking into a breeze at Laurimar Recreation Reserve, the Blues failed to register a score in the first quarter but restricted the home side to only three goals of their own.
It was the second quarter where Derrick said his charges lost their way, kicking only three behinds and allowing the Power to score 4.4 to trail by 49 points at the long break.
“It’s always going to hurt you when you have a four-goal breeze and you don’t score with it,” he said.
“The second half was a lot better. There will still mistakes, but there was much better effort.”
Kilmore finally began to hit the scoreboard in the second half, with Riley Mclaughlin, Liam Salter, Bailey Taylor-Egan and Mick McCulloch all managing single goals to add some respectability to the 4.12 (36) to 15.16 (106) loss.
While the Blues were soundly beaten, Derrick was encouraged by the play of Kilmore’s backline.
“I thought the backline was actually pretty good for most of the day. I think [Laurimar] kicked five goals from free kicks and another three from 50-metre penalties, so the backline actually held up alright,” he said.
“There were great signs from Mitch Portoglou at full back who did really well all day. Grant Paxton also did a great job on [Jacson] Cecil. He’s one of the best forwards in the comp and I think he got two goals from free kicks and didn’t get a touch the rest of the day.”
Also impressive were brothers Marcus and Max Lacorcia, while 16-year-old Ben Doyle showed positive signs in his senior debut.
Derrick said with more than half the Kilmore side under the age of 25, development and consistency would be key.
“Some of the efforts of the young guys were fantastic. Maintaining that for four quarters is going to be the challenge,” he said.
“We’ve got a bunch of blokes who haven’t played 20 games, but that’s up to our older heads too to set the standard and make sure they understand how to go about it.”
Kilmore will host competition newcomer Kinglake this Saturday in a game Derrick said was ‘huge’ for his side.
“There’s two teams in this league that play for a town and not just a team. We’re a town and they’re a town, so it will be a big challenge that we really want to win,” he said.
Whittlesea
For one half of Whittlesea’s division one clash with Montmorency, Eagles supporters dared to dream of an upset.
The visitors led by 10 points at quarter time and trailed by only a goal at the main break – a surprising result for a Whittlesea team that narrowly avoided relegation to division two last year against a powerhouse Magpies side.
With Riley Carter playing a superb game on the wing and Luke Jeffs looking threatening around goals, the Eagles matched the Magpies’ four goals in the first half, but could not sustain the effort after the long break.
The home side kicked away with 11.8 to 2.2 in the second half to win 15.17 (107) to 6.5 (41).
Jeffs was the sole multiple-goal kicker for Whittlesea with two, while Carter, Jaron Murphy, Riley Powell and Christian Prestopino registered singles.
Tom Falls, Matthew Atta, Harley Fraumano and Deaking Tenant joined Carter and Jeffs among Whittlesea’s best players.
The Eagles will host Heidelberg this weekend in their first home game of the season.
