TAYLORS Lake served notice that it is no longer an easy-beat of the Horsham District Football Netball League in emphatic fashion at Pimpinio Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Lakers were led in a 24.5 (149) to 12.8 (80) drubbing of the Tigers by new coach Deek Roberts, who booted seven goals.
The Lakers endured a winless season last year, but showed great strides this season with a raft of new recruits.
Roberts and Pat Purcell moved back to the Lakers after spending time at Hopetoun in the Mallee Football League, and both were among the team’s best.
Dylan Carroll, brought in from Natimuk over the summer, dominated the ruck contests to be named Taylors Lake’s best.
Nathan Koenig matched Roberts’ contribution with seven goals of his own.
Darcy O’Connor was solid in the midfield and Matt Wilcox impressed in his first senior outing for the Tigers in several years.
Alex Hill played his usual impressive game in defence, but Pimpinio had few winners on the day.
Roberts said the win meant a lot to Taylors Lake after a summer of hard work.
“We banged a few on pretty early and didn’t take long to get going at all, which was what we were focusing on,” he said.
“We really put them away in that second quarter and it was a ripping day with no wind at all so we were able to kick really accurately.
“All the supporters were relieved and overjoyed – after going through what they went through last year, to have a win was a great way to give back to them.”
Pimpinio coach Mal Coutts said the team’s youth and inexperience made things tough against the Lakers.
“The guys were just overawed a bit, and we were just overwhelmed and didn’t stand up,” he said.
“There were some good passages of play, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
