THE youngest Tassie Mariners team in history produced a competitive but “frustrating” effort in their TAC Cup encounter with the Northern Knights in Melbourne – falling 18 points short.
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The Mariners were held scoreless in the opening quarter as the home side piled on 41 points at Preston City Oval.
Things looked bleak but to the Tasmania’s credit they dug deep with Launceston’s William Edmunds kicking the first major of the second stanza.
The Knights led 54-10 at the main break, an advantage the Mariners managed to reduce to 24 points at three-quarter time to give the visitors some hope.
However, it was not to be for coach Adam Sanders and his under-18 boys with the Northern Knights winning 10.13 (73) to 7.13 (55) in rainy, windy conditions.
“We were just insipid in the first quarter to be honest and then after that the boys had a real crack, which is good in a way but disappointing in another,” Sanders said.
“We had a lot of the play and were pressing really hard but when you are 40 points down at quarter time it is hard to get back.
“The bonus is that if we can play with that intent in the championships next week we will be around the mark, but if we don’t, we will be nowhere near it.”
Edmunds finished with three goals from five shots, while Thomas Mundy, Nicholas Dodge, Jesse Maple and Keegan Wylie all kicked one each.
North Launceston speedster Tarryn Thomas was good running off half-back as was Dodge with more than 30 possessions.
Lauderdale’s Ben McGuinness and Kyle Palmer-Hughes also fought hard in the midfield.
The Mariners face the Northern Territory in Darwin on Friday for their first AFL national under-18 Division 2 championship match.
Sanders said the side selected would only alter slightly.
“We treated today as the first leg of the champs and we were the better side in the second half by a fair bit and just lacked a little bit of polish in the end,” he said.
“We may need to look at our preparation because two weeks in a row we have been asleep in the first quarter.
“We don’t get a lot of experience as such back, if you can call an 18-year-old experienced, but we will go to Darwin with what we have got.
“We will need some speed up there as most of the time it is hot and almost like a wet weather game.”