By Marcus Uhe
A young Berwick side received a lesson in a four-quarter effort of football on Saturday in an 81-point loss to Blackburn in the Eastern Football Netball League.
Poor kicking from Blackburn prevented the margin from escalating, but the 15.20 110 to 4.5 29 result does not make for positive reading the Wickers.
Berwick held sway for the opening sixteen minutes before Blackburn struck first, and put the first three on the board in quick succession, eventually capitalising on inside 50 ascendency.
Blackburn moved the ball at speed despite the falling rain and made an early statement in the battle for territory.
Caydn Lane showed his crumbing nous to put Berwick on the board late in the first term with a brilliant dribble kick from a tight angle, pausing the home team’s momentum and putting his side back in the mix.
The weight of numbers continued to dog the backline, but Berwick held strong under immense fire in the form of inside 50 entries.
Thankfully, the home side could not convert, missing five of its first six shots of the quarter, and when Jai Neal kicked truly after a strong contested mark, the Wickers were only down by 17 points, despite Ashton Williamson being sent from the ground for a high bump.
24 points was the halftime margin, growing to 36 at the final break, before Blackburn flexed its muscle in the final term with a further six goals.
Blackburn managed a minimum of seven shots at goal every quarter, accelerating away from Berwick in the second half with 10 goals to two.
29 points was Berwick’s second-lowest score for the year, swamped by a heavy inside 50 count against them by one of the competition’s highest scoring sides.
Harrison Canning returned to the Berwick line-up for his first game since round one after holding a place in the Gippsland Power Coates Talent League side for much of 2024, and Riak Andrew played his first game for the year in Berwick’s senior side, after a run of games with the Dandenong Stingrays.
The brilliant years of Noah Cannon and Braedyn Bowden continued, and Jesse Cirulis continued to hold his own in the ruck.
Berwick remains in ninth and next faces seventh-placed Noble Park at Pat Wright Senior Oval, a side desperate for a victory having lost its last eight matches.
It will be a crucial week in the context of the fight to avoid relegation, with Doncaster East (ninth) facing Norwood (10th).
Berwick has only beaten the Bulls once since moving to the Eastern Football Netball League, as part of last season’s midyear revival when they won four consecutive matches, including downing the then-reigning premier.
Should both Norwood and Berwick lose to the sides closest to them on the table, fight to climb out of the bottom two will have another layer of difficulty added.
In other Premier Division contests, Vermont became the first team to get the better of Vermont, while Doncaster East appears to have turned a corner despite a loss to East Ringwood.
