Lakes Entrance was put back in its place from a rampant Wy Yung side last Saturday, going down at home by 65 points in round six of East Gippsland football.
The Seagulls were right in the match until the half way mark of the third term, when the Tigers put their foot down and drove the home side into the turf.
It was a stern reminder to the Lakes players of what it takes to be an elite side in the East Gippsland league, playing the full four quarters rather than dropping off after the first half.
The Seagulls have regularly been solid in third quarters, putting the pressure on most sides, but this week they fell away and it proved the real difference.
Lakes’ onballers were sucked to the contest like a seagull on a chip and when they failed to get their hands on it, the Tigers’ spread paid huge dividends.
Jason Sanford and Wilfred Carter carved the Seagulls to pieces when the ball was fed out the back and with Lakes’ forwards unable to apply any significant forward pressure and the onballers trapped at the contest, prime movers Dale Lynn, Lloyd Powell, Nick Farley, Dean Jamieson and Bryan Froud time and time again had the space and composure to hit leading Tiger forwards Matt Counahan, Dion Ljujic and Marcus Latham.
Lakes was kicking into the breeze in the first term, and started well with ruckman James Beha drifting forward to slot his side’s only major of the quarter.
Wy Yung used the breeze to advantage, with Counahan, Jack Rowe and Bryan Froud kicking goals to give the Tigers a 14-point lead at quarter time.
The lead was the same at half time with both teams booting 6.3 for the term as the onballers in particular drifted into attack to make life difficult for both teams’ defensive players.
It was much the same in the third, although halfway through, the Seagulls’ midfielders failed to push back as hard as they pushed forward, leaving the Tigers to run free with the ball in their hands.
Lakes’ back half was outnumbered on numerous occasions and it showed on the scoreboard as Wy Yung took a 40-point lead into the final term.
Things only got worse for Lakes as Wy Yung piled on five easy goals to one in the last quarter to claim a big victory.
Ben Crittenden, playing across half forward and through the middle, was Lakes’ only multiple goalkicker with four, with Matt Dalton, Steve Battista, James Beha, Jesse Beha and Gerard Kennedy kicking one each.
Adam Lowcock was impressive across half back, with fellow defender John Hooper doing a sterling job on Marcus Latham when he was forward.
Toby Eisemen burrowed into some tight packs and won plenty of the ball, while Kane Thomson battled hard all day.
Sure, Wy Yung put in its best performance of the season, but Lakes’ effort was unacceptable, especially after half time.
The Seagulls have shown glimpses, but are yet to put four quarters together. When they do, they will be a challenger, but for the time being, they have a fair bit of work to do to be considered a real competitor.
RESERVES
The reserves were far and away a classier side than Wy Yung at home, bit failed to deliver a killer blow with inaccurate kicking making for a much smaller winning margin than was possible.
The Seagulls took the victory by 52 points, but a score line of 10.18 wasn’t very flattering.
Lakes booted nine of those in the first term, before some calm play saw the home side settle and take control.
The Seagulls managed to keep Wy Yung to two goals after half time as Chris Andy and company ran riot in attack for the Seagulls.
Lakes president Ray Burgess, known for his work in attack, played a terrific loose man role across half back. He did spend a period up forward, but confidence got the better of him, when the fleet footed 1999 moves deserting him as he baulked two Tigers before being caught holding the ball.
The Sproule brothers – Rowan and Bobby – gave Andy a chop out in attack, Callum Lee again impressed and Dylan Paten racked up plenty of disposals across half back.
Ryan Hooper did his chances of a senior recall no harm with a solid display in the back half.
UNDER 18
The Seagulls’ under 18s remain undefeated after taking strong challenger Wy Yung to the sword with a 43-point win, despite only kicking one goal in the final term.
The Seagulls took the initiative with an eight-goal to one third term, led by centre half forward Zac Svetlik, who slotted seven goals for the day.
Brandon Sauer was lively in the first half with five goals.
Coaches Nathan Pegler and Steve Battista won’t be too worried with the last quarter effort, knowing that it was missing a couple of key players and already had the game sewn up, but won’t want it to happen this week against fellow ladder leader Stratford.
Last Modified on 23/05/2012 19:48