By DANIEL MOSCA - Division 2 Seniors
THE Yarraville Seddon Eagles suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday at the hands of an impressive North Footscray outfit to the tune of 41-points.
It was a stellar performance by the visiting team who got the jump on the Eagles early with strong play out of the centre and accurate kicking in front of goal.
The Eagles, second on the ladder coming into the game, failed to match North Footscray's class in the first quarter and were forced to play catch up the rest of the way.
North Footscray received strong contributions from forward Zak Atkins and midfielder Brayden Montebruno, who led the team with three and two majors, respectively.
Despite a disappointing first quarter by Yarraville Seddon, they managed to weather the storm early in the second by dominating the clearances and contested possession around the ground.
However, they failed to cut into the margin due their inability to hit targets inside 50 and by squandering multiple opportunities in front of goal, to boot.
Regardless, they finished the half with a flurry of late goals, including a sensational running belter on the tightest of angles by Macauley Goring, and trailed by just 11 points at the main break.
North Footscray took no time regaining momentum at the start of the second-half, they dictated the tempo and sliced through the Eagles pressure with an aggressive attack and precise kicking.
The visitors took advantage of the bye last week and steamrolled Yarraville Seddon in the second half, booting six goals to one in the third quarter and never looked back.
The Eagles, meanwhile, will have to go back to the drawing board as they were thoroughly outplayed by the visitors through most of the game and failed to capitalise on a number of chances when they went forward.
North Footscray, whose only loss so far this season coming against league leaders Caroline Springs, finished with 10 different goal kickers and moved up to second place on the ladder with the win while Yarraville Seddon dropped to third. The Eagles will get a chance to redeem themselves next week as they take on the lowly West Footscray while North Footscray are set to face fourth placed Glenorden.
In other matches, first placed Caroline Springs demoralised Manor Lakes by 222-points and were boosted by a walloping 15 goals from forward, Mathew Sutton.
Elsewhere, Albanvale overcame a slow start to beat last placed West Footscray. The Cobras, despite trailing by 9 points at the half, dominated the home team in the second-half and cruised to a 53 point win.
Last Modified on 23/05/2016 14:50