Eden Whalers defeated by the Tathra Sea Eagles 23.12 (150) to 10.8 (68)
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Numbers woes are still plaguing the Eden Whalers, which impacted on Saturday’s game.
However, late arrivals and some spares from the Bega club saw numbers strong enough to get the game going.
Club stalwart Harry Weatherman said the opening passages of play were even.
“The game started out with the ball moving quickly up and down the oval,” Weatherman said.
“Both teams were scoring early, with the Whalers through Nic Smith.”
Unfortunately for the home side, momentum shifted to the Sea Eagles.
“After the frenzied opening, it was all Tathra and they were making Eden work hard, scoring the next five goals.”
However, Brent Kelly fired through a late goal for the Whalers and kept the Sea Eagles within reach.
The second quarter saw a renewed effort from the Whalers.
Weatherman said Ryan Turnbull enjoyed his role as captain and led by example through the midfield.
“With the hard work from the captain, Matt Creswick was able to score a goal,” Weatherman said.
Jaydn Spivey joined in shortly after when he was awarded a 50-metre penalty.
He had the range to the big posts and slotted a goal neatly between them.
Eden got within just three goals midway through the second quarter, but the Sea Eagles surged ahead again to keep the margin around 40 points.
Weatherman said the Whalers were determined to not be embarrassed by last year’s premiers.
“The Whalers had a mission to kick as many goals as possible and not let the score blow out.”
Unfortunately, Tathra’s experience shone through in a dominant second half performance.
The Sea Eagles piled on more goals in spite of valiant defence from the Eden backs.
The margin widened to 80 points in the visitors’ favour by the full-time siren.
The Whalers will be under the pump again when they travel north to take on the Pambula Panthers this weekend.
Award winners on Saturday were: Fishermen’s Club mug and Turnbull family goal kicking award to Brett Kelly; Eden Outdoor Marine Terry Grant; Golden Ocean Chinese lunch James Timms; Cass’s Corner Matt Creswick; Eden Radiator Nic Smith; IGA Ryan Turnbull; Eden Carpet Cleaning Heath Chester; Bi-Lo Ryan Turnbull; and Eden Motor Group Tim Henderson.
