Sea Eagles trounce Panthers

IN a dominant display, Inverloch-Kongwak proudly kept its perch on top of the ladder with a 78-point win over Kilcunda-Bass.

The first quarter sealed the deal for the Sea Eagles as they hit the ground running and piled seven goals onto the scoreboard, leaving the Panthers behind with just two points.

Inverloch-Kongwak brought the intensity with some excellent pressure, causing turnovers and repeat entries into its forward 50.

“They jumped us early and the whole day was spent trying to claw it back,” Kilcunda-Bass coach Lee Rowe said.

“For us, it was a judgement call of how much do we keep fighting it out or contain it. They were just too strong in that first quarter, and they got a hold of us so it was a matter of licking our wounds at quarter time and seeing how much we could peg back over the course of the day.”

Sea Eagle Jack Ginnane hit the scoreboard three times in the first quarter, and Jaxon Williams had a great day in front of goal with five for the game.

“Kye Benson had his first game back at the club and he kicked the first goal of the day,” Inverloch-Kongwak coach Leigh Cole said.

The rest of the game was fairly tight, although the margin remained as Kilcunda-Bass was unable to kick a goal in the first half.

“We kept defending the game really well. It was all about being able to keep the ball in our front half,” Cole said.

“Jayden Sullivan set up really well behind the footy, and Tom Hams and Zak Box were able to help with rebounds.”

Kilcunda-Bass managed to outscore Inverloch-Kongwak in the third quarter, but too much damage had been done during the first half of the game.

“Our second half was about trying to find an avenue for goal. Full credit to them. I think across the board they were really strong. We had to fight for every contest,” Rowe said.

“It was another learning experience for our young crew. We’ve learnt from all our losses.”

For the Panthers, the best player on the day was Sam Watson in the defence, saving the day on a number of occasions and stopping the scoreline from looking a lot worse.

Kilcunda-Bass tried mixing it up in the last quarter, bringing Steven and Lochlan Scott forward, and sending Brayden and Tyce Kleverkamp back to give a different look.

“We were trying to find the right mix. We’ve been playing a style of footy for the last month that we thought suited us and now we can see that against the top teams we just need to tinker with it,” Rowe said.

“Full credit to both sides. Everyone ran it out and as much as we don’t like to take a loss, we’ll take the learnings and we’re going to work on it. That’s the beauty of the group we’ve got at the moment. We’ll learn from this and they are up for the fight. They are really coachable moving forward.”

Inverloch-Kongwak will play Koo Wee Rup this Saturday.

“That’ll be at their ground, so it’ll be a good test. They’ve been playing some good footy this year,” Cole said.

Kilcunda-Bass will be playing the Gus James Memorial Match against Korumburra-Bena.

“This is always a great day. I know the family and we are really proud to be involved. Hopefully we can get a hold of the trophy. It’s always a hard game out there, regardless of the positions we are in,” Rowe said.

“They’ll be up for it. They had a good result on the weekend without getting the points. It just evens things up for another challenge.”

Kilcunda-Bass’ veterans will be playing Korumburra-Bena under lights following the Seniors’ match.