After a bye last week, Kilmore kicked off its 2024 campaign with a huge victory over Reservoir at JJ Clancy Reserve.
Before getting their season underway, the Blues were joined by the club’s next generation to open the JJ Clancy Community Pavilion to a massive crowd.
The signs were looking good for Kilmore as play got underway, the home side kicking four goals in the first quarter to make it hard for the opposition to get their hands on the ball as they only managed to score one goal.
Kilmore continued its efforts from its first successful quarter into the second, keeping the Mustangs’ score below ten before heading into half-time.
At that point the Blues were already up by 43 points, giving their last two quarters a helping hand on the way to their 96-32 victory.
Coach Paul Derrick said the game was good for the first hit out of the season.
“We got the chance to experiment a bit which we did, it worked out pretty good for us, we’re happy with how it went,” he said.
“To Reservoir’s credit, they never gave up all day. I think we probably only kicked four a quarter, but we missed some sitters which hurt us a little bit in having a bigger win.
“The backline worked really well together and midfield, which is a few new blokes running through that now seems to work really well together, and the forward line as a unit worked together.
“Just at times we probably took the foot off and didn’t work hard enough back and didn’t work to help each other enough, but it’s a work in progress. We’ll keep aiming to get better and better.”
Around seven new players and returning players make up the side for this season, some of whom were standout players in the first match.
“Joshua Coe, the new bloke in the ruck gave us the first use of the ball a lot, Mick Marrett started on fire, just clearing hard at the footy … Liam Monaghan was outstanding all day,” Derrick said.
“Ryan Bailey is a new bloke to the side, he played a great game … he was really good to watch on the wings, moving the ball fast. My boy Ethan [Derrick] kicked six, he and Bailey Taylor look to be a good combination up forward.”
Returning player Bailey Taylor-Egan made a comeback to the sport after the club last year announced he would step away to deal with a previous concussion.
“He’s like a new recruit after missing the whole lot of last year, fantastic to have Bailey back,” Derrick said.
“We thought we lost a loss from the game, just to be able to get back out there was fantastic for him and for us.”
Benjamin Doyle was unfortunate to suffer a possible ligament strain, but Derrick hoped it would be a short-term affair.
Heading into round three against Lalor this Saturday, Derrick said the side needed to carry from the first round to this weekend.
“To build on what we’ve done, I mean they won’t be easy down there, I’m sure they’re desperate to get a scalp after their last couple of seasons,” he said.
“Especially the first half is going to be red hot, so we need to be on our game and just what we did this week and carried into next week and added a bit more to that.”
Elsewhere, Mernda hosted Heidelberg West and racked up a 115-69 win at the weekend.
Both sides had eyes on the ball in the first quarter with Heidelberg up by one point at the end of the quarter.
The leading team was not determined until the second and third quarters when Mernda became more consistent to become the leading team and end on a high.
Mernda will go up against Reservoir this Saturday.
