The Lakes Entrance senior footballers suffered their second consecutive defeat going down to Lucknow at the Magpies’ nest last Saturday.
It leaves the Seagulls fifth on the East Gippsland Football Netball League ladder after three rounds.
The Seagulls went down by five points, with Lucknow coming from 20 points down at three quarter time with ill-disciplined play proving costly.
Both the Seagulls and the Pies fought tooth and nail for the hard ball in the opening quarter, struggling to break the shackles at the stoppages.
Lucknow got the first through coach Brad Paris, soccering through a simple major.
Lakes hit back immediately through Bobby Sproule, who slotted two long goals to give his side the early advantage.
Paris bagged another before a late Seagulls goal gave them a five-point lead at the first change.
Gerard Kennedy steadied the Seagulls, clunking some strong grabs deep in attack, while under 18 skipper Mat Dugins snapped truly in his first senior match of the season to put his side two goals ahead.
Kennedy was again in the thick of the action and helped put the Seagulls ahead by three goals, but the Magpies rallied late to reduce the margin to 10 at the long break.
It was a tough contest in the opening 10 minutes of the third term, but in the blink of an eye, Lakes looked to have the game almost sewn up when a 50m penalty and subsequent free kick gifted Jackson Dear and Rhys Hubbard simple majors for the Seagulls.
Lucknow responded fast, with with three quick goals.
Kennedy responded for the Seagulls with a smart snap after earning a down field free kick on the siren, which he nailed straight through the middle, Lakes had opened up a 20-point advantage with a quarter to play.
It was soon out to 26 when Ben Crittenden slotted one early on the run, but again, the Magpies kept coming.
Some ill disciplined play handed two 50m penalties to Lucknow, with Aidan Fitzgerald the beneficiary of both, which soon resulted in consecutive goals for the Magpies.
Kennedy booted his fifth after a strong mark to give Lakes the lead again, but the Magpies hit back immediately.
As the ball went from one end to the other, both sides had their chances to grab victory, and when Steve Battista snapped one late for the Seagulls, it looked like the Lakes would hold on.
The Magpies weren’t about to give in and after levelling the scores again, a draw was looking a real possibility.
The Seagulls pushed and pushed and eventually got a mark 25m out from Crittenden. The pressure was at full noise and Crittenden felt it, hooking his kick to the left.
Lucknow then moved quickly into attack with its captain Ash Smith pushing and shoving his way to the front of a large pack to take a strong mark. He went back and put the nail in the coffin with his side jumping five points ahead with little time remaining.
Lakes pushed forward from the centre bounce, but after a couple of tight stoppages, the siren sounded to hand the Magpies a terrific win.
Kennedy was the Seagulls’ best up forward snagging five, while Dear, Sproule and Dugins managed two each.
James Beha played a lone hand in the ruck for the Seagulls and was a standout against a high class opponent in Fitzgerald, while Dugins impressed coming up from the under 18s and Adam Lowcock battled hard in defence.
RESERVES
The seconds got their first win on the board with a demoralising 203-point win over the Magpies.
The Seagulls got off to a solid start, laying on five majors to one point in the first term, before a six-goal second quarter set them up to take the points, leading by 69 at the main break.
John Hooper put in his bid for a return to the senior side with a stellar second half, slotting seven majors playing deep at centre half forward, before moving to full forward to keep his hot form going.
Matt Marsden and Callum Anketell chimed in with three each, taking the Seagulls to a massive 32 goals to Lucknow’s one.
The Anketell brothers – Adam and Callum – were standouts for Lakes, with Tom Bulmer, Marty Greaves and John Hooper among the best.
Last Modified on 03/05/2012 07:16