The Northern Blues suffered their first loss in a month, going down to the Sandringham Zebras by 40 points at Preston City Oval on Saturday.

A second-quarter blowout saw the Zebras ultimately break away to comfortably triumph 13. 24. (102) to 9. 8. (62).

The Blues were caught flat-footed from the opening bounce with Sandringham slotting the first two and dominating all the play.

Despite the dominance, inaccuracy cost the Zebras and three successive goals to Northern gave it an early lead.

The highlight of the opening term came from some fancy Dylan Buckley (20 disposals, two goals) footwork, resulting in Jack Silvagni crumbing the ball and slotting it through.

A late goal to the Zebras gave them a 10-point lead at quarter-time, but the game was well in the balance.

It was all Sandringham in the second however, kicking the first five goals of the quarter to break the margin out to 40 points.

The likes of Eli Templeton and Brodie Murdoch gave the Zebras first use inside 50 and Northern simply couldn’t match them out of the middle.

It took the Blues most of the quarter to start getting some ascendency, with Sandringham consistently finding players in space inside 50 while the Blues’ forwards were smothered by a resolute Zebras defence.

The Zebras led by six goals and, despite a strong effort from Northern in the second half, the damage had already been done on the scoreboard.

Dillon Viojo-Rainbow kicked three in the third quarter as the Blues lifted their intensity, with a run of nine straight behinds for Sandringham giving the Blues some hope.

Northern was unable to get close enough, however, with late goals to Sandringham stifling the early momentum and making the task too great for a final-quarter comeback.

The Zebras dominated from clearances (42-26) and inside 50s (60-35) all afternoon, as they gave their forward-line easy access that was impossible for Northern to defend.

Buckley and Tim Totevski provided plenty of run in a game where the Blues struggled with fast transitions through the middle.

Matthew Dick finished with 33 possessions, while captain Tom Wilson was voted the best by his coaches with 28 disposals in a typically dogged performance.

Speaking after the game, Viojo-Rainbow said it took the Blues too long to respond to the pressure Sandringham was applying.

“They just came out firing and we probably didn’t know how to respond,” Viojo-Rainbow said.

“It took us a half to get going and if you give teams leads in the first half, then it’s going to be a tough time getting it back.”

The 20-year-old said that the side needed to be more confident moving the ball forward.

“There were a few times where we just kept kicking it backwards and lost metreage,” he said.

“Our ball use and composure and just the ability to back ourselves in just probably set us apart this week.”

Earlier in the day, Harry McKay emerged unscathed from his return to football, collecting five disposals and taking three marks in the opening half in the Development League.

The loss breaks Northern’s run of three consecutive wins, with its next game to come next Saturday against Collingwood at the Holden Centre.

NORTHERN BLUES     3.1      4.3       8.5       9. 8. (62)
SANDRINGHAM         4.5       9.9      11.16    13.24. (102)

GOALS
Northern Blues: Viojo-Rainbow 3, Buckley 2, Silvagni 2, Jones, Kerbatieh

BEST
Northern Blues: Wilson, Dick, Viojo-Rainbow, Kerbatieh, Totevski, Graham