A brave Northern Blues went down by 19 points to Port Melbourne at Preston City Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The Blues drew within a goal in the last quarter on two occasions, but ultimately fell 8. 8. (56) to 10. 15. (75).
Six of the opening seven goals went Northern’s way in the second half, but ultimately a half-time deficit of over five goals proved too much for the Blues to peg back.
The Blues bounded out of the blocks early with a goal inside the first 20 seconds of the match to Kristian Jaksch and piled on the pressure early in the first term.
Northern and Port wrestled their way through the quarter and defended in numbers, each side having their fair share of inside 50s but unable to impact the scoreboard heavily as the Blues took a one-goal lead into the opening change.
The second term was one-way traffic, as Port Melbourne dominated the contested possession count 37-25 and sliced its way through the middle of the ground at all costs.
Port dominated the inside 50 count (18-4) and the clearances (10-4) to open up an ultimately unassailable 34-point lead at the main change.
The Blues reverted back to their first-quarter pressure and intensity, setting the tone for a third-quarter fightback.
Jaksch kicked two early goals as he and debutant Tim Jones hit the scoreboard early in the third term to spark the revival.
The Blues clawed their way back into the contest as they outscored the Borough four goals to none to head into the last term trailing by 10 points.
Northern snuck to within a kick early in the last quarter as Dillon Viojo-Rainbow slotted his first as the Blues held their momentum from the third term.
However the Borough used the gusty breeze in the last term to run away with the match, as Sam Crocker and Toby Pinwill put the game beyond doubt with two late goals.
Debutant Tim Jones marked his first game with a solid outing collecting 24 disposals and a goal to go with seven clearances, and was duly supported by the returning Tim Totevski who amassed 23 disposals and a goal.
Carlton father-son recruit Jack Silvagni’s first competitive hit-out for the Northern Blues saw him improve as the match went along.
He worked tirelessly all day and finished with 12 disposals and two goals, while producing some desperate pressure acts to get the Northern faithful up off their feet.
Jack Silvagni impressed for the Northern Blues in his return from injury. (Photo: Jason Heidrich)
Kieran McGuinness provided plenty of rebound out of defence all day as he racked up a game-high 35 disposals, while Jason Tutt was close behind with 34 possessions and four inside 50s.
Speaking after his first game for the Northern Blues, the returning Andrejs Everitt lamented the side’s second-quarter fadeout.
“I think what let us down the most was the second quarter, they beat us in pretty much all areas,” Everitt said.
“As a team we didn’t adjust when kicking into the breeze. We showed some positive signs in the second half but it wasn’t enough in the end.
“We showed some heart and we were pretty close but at the end of the day it’s disappointing. We were in it at the end but the little things let us down.”
The Northern Blues have a chance to make amends next Saturday, when they host Collingwood at Preston City Oval from 2pm on the club’s Ladies Day. Click here for more information.
