Sizzling Cygnet too good for Claremont
CYGNET produced some of its best football under coach Ben Cato to blow away a Claremont side which showed some signs of rust in its first SFL match of the season yesterday.
A power-charged first half from the Port — which featured 20 scoring shots to six — saw the visitors waltz to a 64point lead at halftime at Abbotsfield Park, courtesy of some free-flowing, exciting football.
The Pies fought back in the third term to reduce the damage before eventually going down 5.9 (39) to 14.20 (104), with only a wasteful 2.10 in the last quarter costing Cygnet a bigger percentage boost.
Livewire small forward Jake Dance kicked a game-high five goals — four of which came in a blistering second quarter.
Ben Halton regained some touch with three goals while Luke Ashlin kicked both of the side’s last-term majors.
“We definitely dropped away in the second half, but the first half we played some pretty good football, some of the best since I have been at the footy club,” Cato said.
“They are a proud club and just weren’t going to roll over in the second half so it was a bit frustrating and a bit tougher in the second, but it was a good win in the end.
“We were probably lucky we had a couple of games under our belt, and had a bit of a head of steam up, I think they will be a different side next time we play them but there was a bit of the unknown about them.
“Our contested footy was really good, our midfielders got their hands on it and then our speed on the outside got them and we were able to move them from there.”
The only downside to the victory was the loss of skipper Mitch Direen to concussion in the second quarter.
In other Good Friday matches, Dodges Ferry upset reigning premier Lindisfarne at Shark Park, with former Lauderdale swingman Ed Stanley kicking five goals in the 37-point win, Huonville handed Hobart a 15.24 (114) to 10.3 (63) hiding while New Norfolk brushed aside Sorell.