The senior side was under the pump in the opening minutes of its clash with Paynesville clearing the opening bounce, heading deep into attack where Dale Turvey picked up the crumbs to open the Gulls 2011 account.
The Seagulls then missed their first couple of chances in front of the big sticks before coach Gerard Kennedy got things underway for the visitors.
Kennedy made the decision to play defensive mainstay Xavier Ryan at centre half forward rather than his regular post at centre half back, having faith in an inexperienced defensive half in the first term.
It was clear they were in for a tough time with Keith Ritchie much too strong for any of the backmen and with Jordan Clegg tackling man mountain Brendan Barnes at full back, there was no real suitable match-up for Ritchie.
Youngster Jackson Dear tried his best but was unable to match his immense strength.
He had a big impact on the first quarter muscling his way to the front of every contest and duly slotting goals when he got his hands on it.
Ritchie snagged four first quarter goals as the Gulls took the early ascendency.
Debutant Jesse Beha came on late in the term and had the chance to slot his first senior goal with his first possession.
He went back and looked as though he had split the middle but the goal umpire had other ideas ruling the kick touched on the line.
Lakes had plenty of the ball and lots of chances to score but some undisciplined play, giving away costly free kicks and 50m penalties made the Seagulls rue their missed opportunities.
Paynesville took an 11-point lead into the first change but Lakes was kicking with the wind in the second quarter.
And the Seagulls used it to their advantage hitting back strongly.
Andrew Stevens and James Beha were dominant in the ruck, but Gulls onballer Daniel Hayes stole most clearance attempts.
Dave Kelly and skipper Nathan Pegler asserted their authority on the contest early in the second term winning many clearances, feeding the ball out to the runners in Rhys Hubbard, Shawn Clark, Jake Le Maitre, Kane Thompson and Adam Lowcock who got the ball in long and direct to key forward Kennedy, Andrew Stevens and James Beha who were making life very difficult for an undersized Gulls back half.
At the other end debutant Ryan Hooper was handed the tough task of curbing Ritchie’s impact, but he too was unable to match-up to him in the strength department.
Steven Battista was also causing the Gulls defenders problems, proving too agile for most opponents, but he was struggling to find the middle of the big sticks.
Hubbard, Clark and Le Maitre each got on the goalkickers list in the second term as Lakes began to take control of the match holding a 17-point lead at the main break.
Ritchie was still of worry to the Seagulls with six first half goals and the big move was made with Ryan moving from attack to defence with immediate impact in the third term.
Ritchie had gone cold for two reasons, Ryan could match it with him in the one-on-ones and two, the Gulls weren’t getting their hands on it in the clearances.
The Seagulls half back line was holding out Paynesville with ease as Lowcock, Thompson and John Hooper repelled all the attacking moves from the home side, rebounding effectively to create 10 scoring shots to one for the quarter as the margin had blown out to 46 points at the final change.
The game was all but gone though Kennedy urged his troops to fight hard in the final term to not give the Gulls a sniff.
Paynesville kicked the first and was trying to pump itself up but the Seagulls silenced the Gulls when Xavier Ryan moved back into attack to kick two last quarter majors.
Dave Kelly also got his name on the goal kickers list after a whole season without booting a goal for the Seagulls in 2010.
In the end the Seagulls ran away with victory by a thumping 66 points, which with accurate kicking could have been much more.
John Hooper was adjudged best afield with a magnificent display off centre half back while his sidekicks Thompson and Lowcock were also brilliant in the back half.
Dave Kelly was the general in the midfield winning plenty of hard ball and topping it off with a goal.
RESERVES
The seconds put in a solid four quarter performance to knock off a relatively strong Paynesville outfit by 39 points.
Heading into the match no one was sure how many players the Seagulls would have but come game time the Seagulls fielded a full-strength side that was led incredibly well by skipper Ray Burgess.
Burgess was on song up forward from the early going, receiving excellent delivery from reigning league best and fairest Jason Carstairs and the returning Chris Andy, who was hitting Burgess up on the lead without him having to break stride.
Recruit Dylan Higgins was the other focal point up forward with three majors but no one was to match it with Burgess who slotted through nine majors for the day.
The Seagulls lead for the entirety of the match largely due to the defensive efforts of Callum Lee, Darren Squires and Daniel Roberts.
UNDER 18
The Seagulls thirds were way too strong for an 11-men Paynesville side.
The Lakes boys helped out with a few players each quarter donning the blue and white stripes of the Gulls.
It was the Matt Buchanan show in the early stages getting his hands on the ball with almost every forward 50 entry.
He was putting on a show attempting to take screamers, taking big snap goal attempts from the boundary, he was a real highlight in an otherwise dull game dominated by the Seagulls.
Daniel Harrison was terrific through the midfield as were Ayden Vogrig and bottom age under 16 player Brandon Sauer who both snuck forward to slot four majors.
In the end the Gulls were no match for their superior bird species as the Seagulls ran out thumping 138-point winners.
Last Modified on 20/04/2011 13:00