Young Hawks win season opener

As each season starts, hopes of success burn bright at each of the Mid Gippsland Football Netball League clubs, as they rightly should.

The season opener featuring Morwell East and the visiting Foster was an ideal clash to send the message to fans - footy is back.

Morwell East walked away with the win, but the result not clear until the final siren. The Hawks scored 8.8-56 to defeat the Tigers 7.8-50.

Morwell East coach Paul Henry reflected on an “unbelievable game”.

“As a younger group, I knew there would be mistakes that could result in turnover and potentially easy goals,” Henry said. “So the message from me was to bring the effort for four quarters, and we did.”

“The effort exceeded my expectations. We were relentless all the way to the final siren. It was brilliant.”

“We had to be, Foster just kept coming and coming,” he said. “They started their quarters really well, and we had to work harder for longer to get the win.”

As pleasing as a close win can be, the disappointment of being on the wrong side of the same result can be devastating.

Foster coach Sam Davies said Morwell East just had too many winners on the day who played their roles better than his boys.

“They handled the conditions better, especially in the second quarter when they got a run of goals which was ultimately the difference,” Davies reflected.

“To my boys' credit, we responded well in the last quarter and got the lead before fading late.”

Davies was left to rue a couple of decisions that resulted in direct goals but noted “the toys aren't out of the cot”.

“We'll bounce back and hopefully use this as a wake up call,” Davies declared.

The anticipated closeness of the MGFNL competition means clubs cannot afford winnable games being lost. Bring on round one!