Match Report | Blackburn lighting it up on centre stage
- rlong69
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Ryan Long.
A fired-up Blackburn side delivered on Good Friday, securing a 19-point Round One victory over the reigning premiers at Morton Park.
After three consecutive seasons finishing sixth on the Premier Division ladder, the challenge this season for the Burners is to take the next step and not only return to the finals but impact them.
They couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season, securing their first win in a standalone Good Friday clash against Balwyn, defeating the Tigers 12.9 81 to 8.14 62.
In warm conditions, the Burners second quarter would turn out to be the major difference between the two sides, six goals to one with the breeze gave the home team a 24-point lead at the Half Time break. Against a premiership midfield Balwyn line-up, Blackburn owned the clearance battle, 27 to 19 in the first half.
Lachlan Bugeja’s first half performance played a major role in Blackburn’s win, 18 disposals in the first half including an important goal in the second term.
The new captain of the Blackburn senior side, Kade Answerth was just as vital in the side’s success on Friday. Answerth had 24 disposals across the afternoon, 16 of those contested. A clutch goal on the eve of the Three-Quarter Time stretching the margin out to a game-high 32 points.
Despite a late push in the final quarter from Balwyn, led by Bowen Smith and Alex Urban, 19 disposals between them in the last term, Blackburn managed to whether the storm in a great defensive display of Premier Division footy.
Thomas Maher also played his role to perfection, keeping one of the most dangerous forwards in the league goalless.
Cooper Trembath was enormous down back, seven intercept marks, five of those coming in the last quarter.
The Blackburn defender spoke after the game about the hard-fought result.
“The team as a whole stood up, we knew it was going to be a tough game, but everyone stood up,” Trembath said.
“Resilience was a real big thing; a lot of the boys were dropping like flies but it was really good to see all of the boys dig deep.”
A sea of red jackets filled the ground on Friday in a finals-type crowd for the standalone game.
Blackburn’s Daniel Wood also spoke after the game, mentioning the impact of the Blackburn faithful which were out in full force on Friday.
“It’s unbelievable,” Wood said, “It’s like we basically have a 19th man on the field when we have the crowd around here like this, the support is unreal and they really get us through those fourth quarters when it’s getting tough.”
Blackburn are once again on centre stage this Friday as the side meets South Croydon at Cheong Park in their annual ANZAC Day clash.
As for the Tigers, they’ll have the opportunity to bounce back in front of their home crowd Saturday. The club will unfurl the 2024 premiership flag when the side takes on Rowville. A massive day for the club as Balwyn will also have their Senior Women’s playing their first home game of the year after entering the competition.
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