THE Blues may have beaten the Power in the AFL on Saturday night, but the story was quite the opposite when the two namesakes met that same afternoon in division two of the Northern Football Netball League (NFNL).
Kilmore was carrying some good momentum into the game following a 25-point win over Epping the week prior, but Laurimar quickly proved that it was a different beast.
The visitors had a small but vocal group of supporters at JJ Clancy Reserve, and those onlookers would’ve been pleased with the way the Power controlled the game early.
Kilmore remained within touching distance thanks to some inaccurate kicking from Laurimar, however it didn’t capitalise on a chance late in the quarter to bridge the gap to seven points and it proved costly.
From that point, Laurimar piled on eight straight goals and 19 of the last 20 in the game. Despite their best efforts, the Blues boys couldn’t keep up with their opponents and weren’t getting the bounce of the ball in those 50/50 situations either.
Although the sting had been taken out of the game by the last quarter, there was some late injury carnage for the Blues too.
They will be sweating on the health of young guns Ryan Knight and Brian Lawrence who were both taken off in the final term – Knight with a knee injury and Lawrence following a massive bump in front of the interchange benches.
When league-leading goalkicker Patrick Fitzgerald put through his fifth for the day after the siren, the scoreboard was a tough sight for Blues fans, reading 137-17.
Mitchell O’Dwyer and Zack Ferguson put the only two majors on the scoreboard, while Liam Salter, Max Lacorcia and Chase Dennis were named among the best.
It’s the second 100-point loss for Kilmore this year, going down by 139 to Ivanhoe three weeks ago. They remain in the middle of the pack though, currently holding onto the last finals position.
It may be a sign of where the competition is at, with Laurimar and Ivanhoe seemingly well ahead of the field, and teams like Kilmore battling hard but lacking the polish of the top two sides.
In the reserves, the Blues restricted their unbeaten opponents to their lowest score for the year, but couldn’t break through the Power’s defense to ultimately go down 50-3.
Rory Taylor gave his all without much reward to be named best afield for the home side, while usual suspect Hayden Phillips was also named for the fourth time in five outings.
Another test sits on the horizon for Kilmore with Watsonia set to visit on Saturday. The Saints are coming off a bye but sit one spot above the Blues in fourth position, albeit with a significantly better percentage.
The netballers had more luck than the footballers when they hit the court on Friday night.
Kilmore 1 recorded an important win over Hazel Glen in division five, 34-21, while Kilmore 3, 4 and 7 all got the job done with four-goal wins in their respective matchups.
Kilmore 5 battled out a draw with Whittlesea, and the remaining sides lost.