Diggers Rest’s Dylan Hannan tries to get a handball off to a teammate in his side’s match with Romsey on Saturday. Photo: Eugene Hyand Source: News Corp Australia
Diggers Rest’s John Ryan is tackled as he tries to fire off a handball. Photo: Eugene Hyand Source: News Corp Australia
A POOR first half cost Diggers Rest any chance of victory against Romsey in its first match of the season.
The Burras were completely outclassed in the opening two quarters of the Riddell District Football League match.
The home side managed just one goal to trail by 31 points at the main break before putting in a much-improved second half to cut the final margin to 16 points.
New coach Shaun Sims did not hand out a half-time bake in his first match in the job, but he did call on his players to raise their commitment levels. A seven-goal-to-one third quarter followed, with the Burras leading by nine points at the final change, but the inaccurate Redbacks prevailed.
“We rate them (Romsey) fairly highly,” Sims said.
“I think they’ll finish in the top couple of spots. They had a lot (of players) out (on Saturday) too, so they’re only going to get better.
“But we just didn’t compete early on.
“We changed a few things at half-time and spoke about commitment and especially to defending and winning the ball because we just couldn’t get our hands on the ball in the first half.
“You can’t play football like that, especially against the top teams like Romsey and Riddell and Sunbury.”
Diggers Rest put a new-look forward line on show for the first time, with key recruits Luke Smailes and James Breen joining Brent Tuckey in the forward 50.
Smailes booted three goals while Breen finished with one, but Sims said he expected improvement from the group in coming weeks.
“The conditions weren’t good for the forwards, with the ground being a bit wet and the water, but we’ll get used to how they play and they’ll get used to how we play,” he said. “That’s the first time they’ve all played together so it’s going to take a bit of time.”
Full-back Cole Laurie was named the Burras’ best for restricting Romsey forward Mathew Davidson to three goals, while Dylan Hannan and Craig Thompson also impressed.
RDFL senior scoreboard: Diggers Rest 9.14 (68) def by Romsey 11.18 (84); Sunbury Kangaroos 20.23 (143) def Macedon 5.6 (36); Riddell 13.13 (91) def Melton Centrals 8.8 (56); Woodend-Hesket 13.6 (84) def Kilmore 11.7 (73); Broadford 15.11 (101) def by Lancefield 15.14 (104); Rockbank 3.3 (21) def by Rupertswood 18.11 (119)