The Eden Whalers faced the Merimbula Diggers on Saturday and struggled in an uphill battle, going down by a large margin to the visitors.
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Played at the Eden ground, the Whalers were on the back foot early on in the piece as officials said it rallied a full complement of players at the last minute.
Officials said the back line was immediately under fire as the Diggers launched multiple attacking raids in the home team’s territory.
The home team eventually went down 39-18-252 to 3-2-20.
A majority of the scoring came from the Diggers frontman Dylan Jordan, who topped the national goal-kicking charts for the week as he booted 20 shots clean between the big sticks.
His nearest rival in the Sapphire Coast AFL competition was Bega-Tathra’s Adam Blacka kicked 10 majors against Bermagui, placing him 36th in the country.
Scott Munday played his usual intense football and Lachlan Rooney was working hard, but faced a much bigger and more experienced opponent.
Unfortunately, the supply of the ball to the Diggers’ front line was frequent and accurate as Daniel Worden, Brendon Gordon and the Burch brothers dominated central clearances.
The Diggers boasted a massive height advantage around key areas of the ground and James Timms was working hard in the ruck alongside the injured Liam Wilkinson, who still found momentum to post Eden’s first goal.
Nathan Sebire was a solid performer through the middle and escaped his man to put a few accurate kicks toward the Eden front line on the day.
Despite the Whalers’ best efforts, the Diggers were running away with a 110-point lead by the main break.
Coach of the Eden under 11s, Pete Russell showed his mettle matching it with some of the Diggers big men in the front lines and intercepting play.
Wilkinson scored his second for the day into the third quarter, but the Diggers were extending their lead.
Jordan Miunkal had plenty of spring in his boots to bag some high flying marks and spoil shots from the Diggers.
Officials said despite the blowout scoreline the Whalers never stopped fighting for possession and commended Plugger Kirkby, who was still chasing his opponent right down to the final siren.
With the top teams out of the way, Eden will be facing the Bermagui Breakers on Saturday at the Eden ground for three games of football with the under 11s, womens and senior men.
The Golden Ocean award winner was Pete Russell, the Eden Pizza prize to Nathan Sebire, Active Electric to Scott Munday and the Eden Radiator award to James Timms.