The Northern Blues Amateurs suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, succumbing to Richmond Central by 39 points at Kevin Bartlett Reserve.
The Snakes utilised their superiority in the air to gain an advantage over the Blues, kicking 14.13 (97) to Northern’s 9.4 (58) in front of their home faithful.
The previously undefeated Blues looked structurally lost at times throughout the contest, lacking level heads with a number of key players unavailable for selection.
The Snake’s hardened bodies made their intentions known in the first half, imposing themselves at the stoppages to create a 42 point buffer by the major break.
The Blues broke even across the ground from that point on, but found themselves trailing by too much to rope in Marcus Goonan’s men.
Half forward Mark Cigagna did his utmost to compensate for the omissions with hard running and leading across the ground, however his efforts were quashed against a well-drilled Richmond outfit.
Reed Jepson was also stellar at full-back providing a roadblock in a defensive unit constantly under pressure throughout the match.
Richmond’s Stuart Ward and Tim Baker were instrumental in the Snake’s well-rounded performance to find themselves among the Snakes best.
Speaking to Northern Blues Amateurs Media post-game, midfielder Sam Maatouk credited the Snakes win to their willingness to play disciplined football.
“They’re a well coached side,” he said. “They zoned off well and locked the ball into our defensive fifty.”
“I think they could be one of the teams to watch, it’s good to have a benchmark this early in the year.”
Maatouk said the Blues – who now sit fifth on the ladder – had no time to get caught up in their defeat.
“It’s a long season and we know there are some areas we need to improve, we want turn it around next game.”
The Northern Blues Amateurs next match is against the sixth placed Aquinas this Saturday at Aquinas College.
Last Modified on 07/05/2014 12:17