Rupertswood was left to rue a poor first quarter against Sunbury Kangaroos in the Riddell District Football League on Saturday.
Failing to score a goal in the first term, the Sharks had to play catch-up football all day. Halfway through the fourth quarter they actually hit the lead. But the Kangaroos didn’t go away, kicking two late goals.
While the Sharks levelled the scores late, they couldn’t grab the lead.
A shot on goal from the Kangaroos missed, but it was enough for them to get the win: 10.12 (72)- 11.5 (71).
Sharks coach Kevin Fitzgerald said the loss could be explained by a single stat.
“You can’t give a side a five-goal start, and that’s all to it,” he said. “We were very flat early. It took us the whole quarter before we started to roll.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to run them down.”
Fitzgerald said playing Macedon on Monday and having a five-day break would have played some part in the sluggish start.
“Playing on Monday while Sunbury played Saturday makes a huge difference,” he said. “Our blokes were still getting over the Monday, which was a hard game. I was hoping we could run it out, but we can’t ignore the fact it takes a lot out of you.”
Fitzgerald was pleased with how his side responded after quarter-time, and Kangaroos coach Jarrod Dixon admitted the Sharks had “destroyed” them at the contest for most of the second half.
“I thought our response after quarter-time was really good, but we’re very disappointed not to have the points from last week and this week,” Fitzgerald said.
“We just can’t afford to be doing that and not getting the points.
The Sharks sit 1-2 after the first three rounds, having had chances to take the points in every game.
“That’s footy; we’ve got to work harder. You get what you deserve sometimes.”
“Those games can go either way and if you lose them it’s because there’s things you can do better.
“I think we’ve got a group that can do really well. We’ve just got to have it go our way and once we get rolling we’ll be hard to play against.
“We’ve got a tough start, and we’ve still got Riddell and Diggers Rest in the next two weeks. We play all the good sides straight up.”
Elsewhere, Macedon made it three from three with a win over Melton Centrals; Riddell was too good for Broadford; Diggers Rest remains undefeated after beating Romsey, while Wallan beat Woodend and Lancefield smashed Rockbank.
