By Tara Murray
Sunbury Kangaroos came away with a second big win, and bragging rights, but there’s still a lot to work to do for the Essendon District Football League division 2 side.
In the first derby between the Kangaroos and crosstown rivals, East Sunbury, it was one way traffic for much of the game.
The Kangaroos did a lot of the damage on the scoreboard in the first half and while they extended the lead in the second half, the game was all but over at the main break.
The Kangaroos winning 19.16 (130)-8.7 (55) to claim the first Local Cup.
Kangaroos’ coach Anthony Leydin was happy to come away with the 12-goal win, but admits they weren’t consistent across the four quarters.
“It was a little similar to the last game,” he said. “We created a bit of an advantage for ourselves but we didn’t really go on with it, which was the disappointing thing.
“I think we were up by eight or nine goals at half-time and it ended up only being two goals more in the second half.
“But an 11-12 goal victory, you take that any day of the week.”
Leydin said with 10 new players in the side in the first two rounds, it was always going to take some time to gel.
He said they showed what they were capable of for patches of the game, but at other times he could see they still had some work to do.
“A trait of ours has been having a little difficultly connecting with our forwards, and that’s going to take a little bit of work.
“We showed in patches we can really put it together, but for not long enough.
“We created enough opportunities for ourselves and didn’t make the most of them, we probably let them off on the hook.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Sunbury Kangaroos vs East Sunbury
The Kangaroos had 10 goalkickers, with Josh Burgess (four goals), Lachie Baddeley and Mick Kilty (three each) leading the way.
Leydin said it was hard to find four-quarter performers. He said Burgess, Tierone Cuffe, Matt Welsh, Jacob Opie and Lachie Kaye were among the better players.
For the Thunder, it was a tough night with no multiple goalkickers.
The win gives the Kangaroos a 2-0 start to the season, while the Thunder has slumped to 0-2.
The Kangaroos lost Braiden Wilson, who injured his hamstring in the first half.
Leydin said a few other players struggled with cramp late in the game.
The Kangaroos now have two weekends off, with the Easter break and then a bye.
Leydin said while it wasn’t ideal, it gave them time to work on a few things.
“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves,” he said.
“We lost 16 guys who played seniors last year who aren’t at the club and only brought in 10 guys.
“We hope and expect to improve and we know we will need to as well.
“I think it will be a slow burn and hopefully we’ll start piecing it all together.”
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