By Tara Murray
Jacana returned to the field in the Essendon District Football League division 2 on Saturday.
The Jaguars were unable to field a team the previous round because of a number of player departures, but at the weekend they had both senior and reserves teams on the ground to face the Sunbury Kangaroos.
While the scoreboard wasn’t pretty in either game, with big wins to the Kangaroos, it was still a big step for the Jaguars.
EDFL chief executive Craig Armstead said the situation was a lot better than it was looking earlier in the week.
The league met with the Jaguars on Tuesday to discuss the club’s situation. Earlier, the club made the decision to stop player payments for financial reasons, with a number of players deciding to leave the club.
“It’s great news they’ve got seniors and reserves this week,” Armstead said before the weekend’s matches.
“It’s a better outcome than we thought earlier in the week and hopefully it’ll carry on for the rest of the season.
“We’re really keen for them to continue. We thought it was looking like they would have one team rather than two and we were happy with that.
“Hopefully they will have two teams for the rest of the year.”
Having lost more than 20 players, the Jaguars put out a call to arms for help on and off the field.
In a good sign, they had nearly 40 players on the track on Thursday night, lead by new coach Paul Houston.
Armstead said a number of former players and committee members had returned to the fold to ensure the club gets back on track.
He said while the first focus was getting teams on the park, a lot of things were happening in the background.
In the seniors, the Jacana lost 38.18 (246)-2.5 (17).
In other EDFL results, Roxburgh Park got its second win of the division 1 season beating Taylors Lakes.
Westmeadows, Tullamarine and Craigieburn also had wins.
MORE EDFL NEWS
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/edfl-admits-points-error/
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/westmeadows-finds-going-tough/
www.starweekly.com.au/sports/burnside-heights-roars-into-new-year/
