By Trevor Jackson
Hatherleigh 20.16 (136) d Mount Burr 7.3 (45)
Hatherleigh showed its strength in its Mid south East football Round 1 clash with Mount Burr on Saturday.
With the Mozzies on their home deck and a memorial for Ann Guyett, there was plenty to play for.
The opening term certainly put the Eagles on notice, as Mount Burr began strong and led 3.1 (19) to 1.6 (12) at the first break.
However, from there it was all Hatherleigh as the Eagles started to find their feet and the big sticks.
By the long break the Eagles had not only closed the margin, but opened a 40-point lead as they settled into their work and expanded their dominance until the final siren.
Hatherleigh enjoyed a spread of goal scorers, including coach Jake Dowdy with six majors.
Jack Skeer contributed four, Jordan Galpin three and Joe Rayson two, which provided a tough forward line for the Mozzies to defend.
Dowdy said he was “100 per cent happy” happy with the outcome, despite the early jump from the home side.
“I thought we played well,” he said.
“Mount Burr come at us pretty early, played some good footy and put us under pressure.
“We got the ball rolling, got it on the outside and on our terms.”
That first-quarter blast from the Mozzies was something Dowdy said he expected.
“I think when we played them last year, early on they were good,” he said.
“If you give them a stiff they stick around.
“They also had a memorial on the day so they had a fair bit to play for.
“I was expecting them to come out pretty hard.”
From there it was a matter of turning the tide and Dowdy knew the Mozzies would throw everything at them in the next term.
“We just had to settle,” he said.
“We were a bit jittery I think, a bit too excited because it was Round 1.
“We had three or four blokes to the contest rather than some staying out.
“We were getting in each other’s way.
“Towards the end of the first quarter we started winning the ball but our delivery inside 50 was pretty poor.”
After addressing that fact the Eagles came out firing in the second quarter and turned the game on its head.
The spread of goal scorers made life difficult for the Mozzies, as the Eagles ramped up their attack.
“We ended up going with a pretty tall forward line,” Dowdy said.
“The boys are good with their movements and second or third leads, which created a lot of space and the mid-field started to get on top.
“When you have Will Chay and Jordy Galpin, blokes like them kicking into the 50, it makes it pretty easy in the 50 sometimes.”
Dowdy praised Chay for his efforts, which were an unknown to the coach until the last season.
“It is only my second year coaching the club and last year I didn’t know much about him but he really impressed,” he said.
“He can play anywhere – down back, middle, up forward.
“He never loses a one-on-one and has really good skills.”
As for a first-round hitout, Dowdy said he was pleased, with plenty still to work on as the season unfolds.
“I think the biggest thing we have been trying to work on is we get a lot of inside 50s but struggle to convert that to scores,” he said.
“Last year we struggled with a lot of injuries so our forward line was never set.
“I was impressed with how many scores we got from inside 50s on Saturday.”
