Blighty allowed the opposition to bang on some quick goals in the first.
It set the tone to be what looked like being a difficult game.
Fortunately after settling, the Redeyes rallied back to be in the game for most of the day with some rapid plays, once again showing the good football they can play when in control.
Full credit to Kyel Bain who, after playing in the reserves, was thrown into the fold to fill Jack’s shoes in a rotation he wasn’t familiar with.
Special mention to coach Adrian Timmis in getting the team back focused again and getting them up and about playing some good football.
Al Gardiner, Isaac Suckling, Henry Michael and Luke Charlton were tough around the contest, Dane Leyden, Kyel Bain and Rushton Stronger were terrific.
Daniel Smits continued his improvement and Hugh Burton played his best game in a long time tackling hard and winning plenty of it .
Hoping to get off to a better start in their next game, Blighty will host Picola in what should prove another tough contest.
Final score: Rennie 19.17 (131) def Blighty 4.9 (33)
Reserves:
Blighty struggled to get their hands on the ball and use it cleanly in the first quarter, allowing the Rennie Hoppers to dominate the quarter and slam on a dozen goals.
It put the Redeye’ on the back foot from the very start in what turned out to be an ordinary day for Blighty.
To the credit of the team, in true Redeyes fashion they came out in the second with a “have a crack attitude” and played the best they could.
Relying on fewer numbers and coming up against a strong Rennie side required some players to stand up in the absence of others.
Billy Lawes, Sam and Jai Dudley, Will Barnes, Reece Seely and Daniel Charlton all played with improved understanding of the game.
The experience of Brock and Zac Thompson, Dion Winter, Chris Hovenden and Johnny Mitch helped lead the way, all with outstanding performances.
Final score: Rennie 31.20 (206) def Blighty 0.0 (0)
Fourths:
This week Blighty played host to Rennie.
The visitors had a very good first quarter which set Blighty back to begin the proceedings.
Blighty rallied and started to make a fight and contest the ball more, not unlike their performances in previous weeks.
The effort of the boys and girls certainly was not reflected on the scoreboard.
Kyah Watson had another good game using her speed and ball getting skills.
Seth Fuess made the backline stronger once moved there, and was excellent in defence.
Mitch and Pip Bain tried hard all day, playing in many positions and showing how important they are in the Blighty fourths team.
Best on ground this week went to William Frost who played a great game and got the only goal in the last quarter.
Blake Miller also played well coming up from the fifths.
Liam Gordon had his best game of the year, taking marks and getting many possessions of the ball.
Jake Wharton again played another strong game showing his versatility and how effective he can be in defence.
Final score: Rennie 12.23 (95) def Blighty 1.2 (8).
