Picola United has been given a dose of the opening round blues after suffering a 29-point defeat to Berrigan at Berrigan Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
A third-quarter blitz that saw the Saints kick six goals to United’s one powered Berrigan to a 13.12 (90) to 9.7 (61) win.
The two sides were neck-and-neck in the first half, with the Blues leading by three points at quarter time and the Saints later holding a two-point lead at the main break.
But a dominant third quarter saw Berrigan blow the game wide open. Six goals to one in the third term saw the Saints open up a decisive 33-point lead at the last change, a margin that was too much for United to overcome.
Picola United coach Darby Walsh said he thought his side started well and said he was happy with their first-half performance.
“We thought our first half was really competitive and that’s the sort of footy we know we can play,” Walsh said.
“We were really pleased with our first half — we came in two points down at half time knowing our game plan was working.”
But it was the third quarter that let the Blues down.
Walsh said United simply were not up to the challenge in the third term.
“It was a pretty disappointing third quarter,” he said. “They came out and blew us away to be honest, it took us too long to adapt to their style of play.
“It was a credit to them. They probably had a bit of a rev-up at half-time then came out firing, whereas we didn’t respond to our half-time address.
“They were running their own show out there, it was really tricky for our guys to see that and then know what to do on the fly.”
By the time United were able to work their way back into the game, the damage was done. The Blues outscored Berrigan in the last quarter, but were unable to bridge the gap.
But despite the result, Walsh was still upbeat about his side’s performance overall.
“For us, it’s still really positive. I think our best footy on Saturday was certainly up to their standard and we think they [Berrigan] are going to be a really strong team this year.
“Although it was a loss, we still take a lot of confidence out of the game and know that our style of play is good enough to match it, and it’s just going to be consistency which is what we need to work on.
“I thought our run out of the backline was really good, I thought our back six was really strong all day.
“There were certainly some times when the ball was coming in on a silver platter for Berrigan and our backline really stood up there and that was really pleasing. I think our defensive work in our backline was certainly our strongest area.”
Jay Morrison, Jeremy Salinger and Brandon Byrne were three of the standouts down back for Walsh, while Matt Hore and Blake Jorgensen were also among Picola’s best on the day.
Saturday marked a special milestone for Jorgensen, with the captain and three-time best and fairest playing his 100th game for the Blues.
Walsh said the milestone was a significant achievement, one that deserved to be celebrated.
“He is super, super consistent. To win three best and fairests on the trot is pretty special,” Walsh said.
“It just speaks to the person and the player that Blake is that he can play his 100th game, be captain for two years and have three B&Fs under his belt, all for a young fella, I think is a really good achievement.
United will play their first home game of the season next weekend when they take on the Deni Drovers at 2:05pm on Saturday at Picola Recreation Reserve.
The Drovers will enter the match on the back of an season-opening defeat themselves after suffering a 29-point loss to Katunga in round one, but Walsh said he isn’t focusing too much on that outcome.
“Seeing the Deni lost doesn’t mean too much for us,“ he said. ”We know they are always a really competitive side and they always bring a good contest so we are expecting that from them.
“After round one, you can’t really read too much into a result. Things change very quickly in football, we obviously aren’t on the winner’s list this week but we still think we have a lot to give this season.