By Marcus Uhe
Poor kicking for goal spared Berwick from a significant margin of defeat against Blackburn at home on Saturday afternoon in the Eastern Football Netball League’s Premier division, despite a significant disparity in shots on goal between the two sides.
The final score read 11.22 88 to 8.1 49, with the visitors taking more than triple the shots on goal that Berwick did in the comprehensive result.
Scoring was going to be Clint Evans’ side’s Achilles heel in 2024 and the opening stages of the contest proved that to be true, as they failed to register a score while its opponents kicked 3.8.
The ball took up residency in the Berwick defensive half for much of the quarter, not helped by some costly skill errors from the Wicks that brought themselves undone.
Caleb Van Oostveen’s kick out that went directly to the man standing the mark, allowing for an easy goal back over his head, a costly error for the Wickers as they tried to whether the storm of repeated inside 50s.
When they moved the ball quickly, they were found wanting in defence, having not taken the opportunity to set up defensive structures when the opportunity arose.
It didn’t take long for the home side to break through in the second term, however, with Sam Hilton-Joyce opening his account in just the second minute.
They soon had a second through Lachlan Hollis in a brief resurgence to open the term, and Raiden Bergman’s high floating snap made it three of the first four of the quarter after 15 minutes to cut the lead to 16 points.
But that was as close as they came for the remainder of the afternoon, as Blackburn kicked clear.
Ruck, Jesse Cirulis returned from injury and was among the home side’s best players, alongside Bergmen, Braedyn Bowden and Ashton Williamson.
Elsewhere in the division, Rowville and Balwyn recorded comfortable wins over Norwood and Vermont, respectfully, while East Ringwood thrashed Doncaster East by 130 points in a statement result.
Noble Park also won comfortably over South Croydon, kicking the opening seven goals of the contest in a dominant first quarter at Pat Wright Senior Oval.
Berwick welcomes Noble Park to Edwin Flack Reserve in round three.
