Bad news gets worse

By RUSSELL BENNETT
THE BERWICK Miners’ nightmare game against Victorian gridiron powerhouse, the Bay City Buccaneers, didn’t end with a 48-0 drubbing.
The Casey side went into the clash missing 13 first-choice players and lost two more to injury in the first quarter. Tight end Daniel Walerian broke his leg in the first play of the game, joining captain Mark Petana on the sidelines for the rest of the season.
Starting centre Matt Dawson also left the game in the first quarter with a rolled ankle.
But despite the injuries, coach Mel Martin wasn’t offering any excuses for the whitewash.
“A lot of mistakes at crucial times just cost us dearly,” he said.
“The biggest one was probably fumbling a punt return and downing the ball on our one-yard line.”
Martin added: “It was just a game where nothing went right.”
He said the Miners took a backward step with the result, after showing they could match the league’s better sides over recent weeks.
“Our defence could hold on for three downs but then make a mistake and have to start all over again – and you can’t do that against a team like the Buccaneers,” Martin said.
“There’s no such thing as a good 100 point loss in footy, or a good 48-point loss for us.”
But the coach still praised his side’s resilience in playing out the game until the final whistle. He said his players lived up to their ‘never give up, never give in’ motto.
The Miners face the Monash Barbarians on Saturday from 1.30pm at Corio Community Reserve in Corio.