Travelling to Merrigum with hopes of bouncing back after a hard-fought season opening loss to Avenel, the Lakers just never got going, as a fired-up Bulldogs side put them to the sword with a fierce attack on the ball and slick ball movement.
Faced with picture perfect conditions for Sunday afternoon football, it was a tight first quarter at Merrigum Recreation Reserve, as the Lakers managed to keep the Bulldogs to just three goals, but only managed the one themselves to be 13 points down at the first change.
The second term would be a similar story for the visitors, as despite battling hard, they could not stop the contest dominance of the Bulldogs, who worked into their offensive game nicely in the shadows of half-time to extend the break to 33 points.
With all the momentum on its side, Merrigum used the third term to break the out-of-kilter Lakers, piling on seven goals to one in a dominant quarter of football.
Leading by an imposing 72 points at three-quarter-time, Merrigum put the cue in the rack to some extent in the last, breaking even to have the margin at the same point come the final siren.
While it was a disappointing day for the Nagambie side, there were still a handful of solid performances, with Mark Wilson battling hard up forward with three goals, and the likes of Blake Fothergill, Mark Nolan and Nathan Fothergill enjoying prominent afternoons.
The netball court yielded some more positive results for Nagambie, as its A-grade team put in a classy performance to run away with a 49-32 triumph away from home.
Backing up a 66-35 win over rival Avenel last week, the Lakers kept the good times rolling, as excellent team chemistry, intense pressure and exquisite ball movement saw them overwhelm the Bulldogs outfit.
Nagambie A-grade coach Katie Sullivan said she was incredibly proud of her team’s performance.
“We were really happy with the win, we know Merrigum are quite young and fast, and it was a really hot day, so we just knew a quick start was really important for us,” Sullivan said.
“It was really pleasing that by half-time we were already 12 goals up and it already set up the win, so I am a very happy coach.
“We are very lucky again to have retained most of our players from last season while also introducing a couple of younger players into the mix as well which is really great, and our defensive pressure was a particular standout.”
Playing in her 300th game, Sharni Lloyd was the standout for the Lakers, while a number of other players also produced eye-catching performances.
“Sharni was incredible in her 300th, she scored 42 of our 49 goals on Sunday at goal attack and it was a different shooting line-up, so it was great to see Sharni stand up for us,” Sullivan said.
“It was a really good team effort overall, we have really been building on last year and bringing everyone into the game; Alicia White was excellent in defence and used her experience to perfection.”
