Williamstown CYMS got a taste of its own medicine in a 45-point loss to Fitzroy in the Victorian Amateur Football Association Premier C top-of-the-table clash at Brunswick Street Oval on Saturday.
The CYs have often been the team going in for the quick kill this season, but on this occasion it was the Roys who delivered the first quarter knock-out as they piled on eight goals to one in the opening stanza.
CYs coach Mathew Montebello said his side was never in the hunt after its lacklustre start.
“They got hold of us in the first quarter and the margin in that first quarter was the margin in the game,” he said.
“They came out and wanted to make a statement.
“We were a little bit reactive and by the time we were able to work out what was going on, the main damage had been done.
“We’ve done that to sides this year and they haven’t been able to come back. You can’t give good sides that kind of head start.”
Williamstown CYMS was able to salvage some pride by out-scoring the home side six goals to two after half-time.
Finn Adamson was one of the few CYs players to have a presence across all four quarters.
Adamson put his body on the line in all contests and pulled in a number of contested marks.
“He was by far our best on ground,” Montebello said. “In games like that, you sort of see why he’s the captain, because he was pretty much carrying the team on his own back.
“He was taking real strong marks, making real strong contests and that’s something we were struggling with up forward.”
Nick Blackney put his head over the ball, Ben Deller was strong in defence and youngster Ben Connolly showed some great signs, but it was to no avail as Williamstown CYMS could not bridge the margin.
The CYs tried to find a way back on the scoreboard, but were met with a steely resistance from Fitzroy.
“They put eight blokes into our forward line to try and congest it up and make it hard for us to work,” Montebello said.
“To the boys’ credit, we could’ve completely rolled over, but they found a bit of something to keep going.”
Despite losing for the first time this season and coughing up top spot on the ladder, Williamstown CYMS remain positive.
The CYs will use the defeat as a key learning tool as it takes aim at winning the premiership.
“That’s the standard now,” Montebello said.
Lance Jenkinson
