By RUSSELL BENNETT
IT WAS all just a little bit of history repeating at Sydney Pargeter Reserve in Endeavour Hills on Saturday.
The last time local gridiron outfit the Berwick Miners defeated the Western Crusaders, it was the 2009 season and the scoreline was 13-12.
And on Saturday, it was the same scoreline as the Miners knocked off the Crusaders in their Week 2 clash.
Coming off a bye in the first week of the season, the Miners were hell-bent on coming out of the blocks with a real purpose on Saturday. And they started well on the offensive end, under a new scheme by Victorian gridiron stalwart and Miners favourite son Mel Martin – who has returned to the head coaching role this year.
But the side hit the wall after the first quarter, which Miners club president and playing defensive coach Mark Petana put down to a combination of inexperience and first- game jitters.
“We had a few dropped passes, and they would have been touchdowns, but that’s just down to first-game jitters,” Petana said.
On the defensive side, the Miners started slowly – which Petana attributed to a less than ideal turnout at training – and improved throughout the contest.
“We were lucky to get away with it,” he said.
“The game could have so easily gone the other way.”
One of the highlights of the contest was the battle between twins Harrison and Sam Delai.
Both are from Eltham and have had experience at the Melbourne Uni Royals, but wide receiver Harrison and slot back Sam opted for a change – to the Miners and Crusaders, respectively.
Meanwhile, Miners quarterback Sam Walker – who has returned to the sport after a stint playing Aussie Rules; and running backs Andrew Jarvis and Grant Lamb – who at 43 years old has been away from the game for eight years – played starring roles.
This week, the Miners won’t be taking anything for granted when they face the Geelong Buccaneers at the Corio Community Reserve from 1.30pm on Saturday.
“We’re really confident with our offence, but defensively we need to improve our training and our fitness levels,” Petana said.
“We missed 25 tackles on the weekend, and most of those were in the open field, so we’re working on that.”
