An under strength North Ballarat Rebels suffered a heavy 86 point TAC Cup defeat to Gippsland Power at Morwell on Saturday, as Joel Dwyer reports.
The Rebels, missing twelve players from their last start win over Oakleigh, were outclassed by a powerful Gippsland outfit, despite showing some promising signs throughout.
Gippsland placed immediate pressure on an inexperienced Rebels side, piling on four goals to nil in the first quarter.
The home side extended their lead to 38 points at the half, despite the Rebels showing plenty of effort around the contest.
Highly rated key forward Josh Scott wrenched the game further out of North Ballarat's grasp in the third term.
Scott booted three of his four goals for the match during the third quarter, extending the Power lead beyond 10 goals.
Influential midfielders Edward Morris and Alex Carr were also standout performers for Gippsland, gathering numerous possessions and booting four goals between them.
Despite the heavy defeat, Rebels coach David Loader believed the chance to expose a glut of inexperienced players to TAC Cup football was a positive.
"I think we saw some real positives today from some bottom-age boys. They showed that perhaps they have a future in footy if they want to work hard enough," Loader said.
"We had some guys jump up and show they can play at this level. That's wonderful for our future going forward."
Loader was left to rue some early missed opportunities, with the Rebels wasting three simple set shots in the opening term.
"Today was a great lesson to the group that it's vitally important to take your opportunities when they present themselves early in the game," Loader said.
"I think we could have put some scoreboard pressure on them early in the game. The game might have been played in different circumstances then."
Loader singled out Lachlan Cassidy, Joseph Symons, Jake Robinson, Liam Hoy and Rowan Marshall for effectively playing their roles for the team.
The Rebels have a golden opportunity to post their second win of the TAC Cup season on Saturday, facing the Bendigo Pioneers at Eureka Stadium at 12.00PM.
Gippsland: 4.5; 7.8; 13.11; 18.17 (125)
North Ballarat: 0.3; 1.6; 3.8; 5.9 (39)
Goals
Gippsland: Scott 4, Carr 3, Dennison 2, Cunico 2, Keilty 2, Hildebrand, Rees, Morris, Walker, Paredes
North Ballarat: MacKay 3, Butler, Lawrence
Last Modified on 17/06/2013 17:22