The Tathra Sea Eagles have learned a valuable lesson about playing against the Diggers on one of the competition’s biggest grounds.
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Played on Merimbula’s Berrambool Oval, both the Merimbula or Pambula grounds are the go-to come finals time.
Sea Eagles coach Kevin May commended the Diggers on their stalwart half-back line that ensured the Diggers clinched the result 10-10-70 to 5-12-42.
“The big fields are where the finals are held so it’s good to know where you stand,” May said.
“We were really pleased to keep them pretty tight because they play it quite well on their home turf.
“Credit to the Diggers, they spread quite well across the middle and their half-back line to control that and they’re certainly up and about this year which is great for the competition."
Young bloods Caleb Higgins and Noah Martyn were among the best performers for the Diggers with some great passages of play on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Dylan Jordan and Will Regan were hard to sneak past with a standout performance in the half-back line for the Diggers.
Hard-working front man Dan Edwards also featured in the best count for the Diggers with an ever-present pressure on the scoreboard.
May said the Sea Eagles would be looking at the half-forward line after the stiff resistance posed by the Merimbula squad.
“We have about three-quarters of the equation sorted; we’ll have a look at the drawing board next time [on the big field].”
He said he will look to the half-forwards to execute a little better next time, but was definitely confident in his charges to put “the winning score” on the board no matter the ground.
May said the result could have been closer, but the Sea Eagles were lamenting a couple of “soft” goals they coughed up late in the third quarter.
In other matches, the Merimbula ladies unfortunately didn’t share in their seniors’ success.
The women’s side went down to the visiting Moruya/Broulee outfit 5-10-40 to 0-1-1.
Ashlee Miller and Charlotte Henley-Smith were two of the best for the Merimbula squad which worked hard to limit the Giants’ scoring opportunities.
The Merimbula reserve grade flipped the result, carding a 9-5-59 to 1-1-7 result over the Giants in their clash on Saturday.
The seniors head to Eden to take on the Whalers on June 16 with play at the Eden Cricket Ground from 2.30pm on Saturday and women’s from 1.10pm.
The reserve grade will play the Narooma Lions on Roy Howard Oval in Bega.