The Tigers - who will rejoin the Bendigo Football League senior competition this year after last season's hiatus - won 13.19 (97) to 7.8 (50).

"It was a good start... with the guys playing their first game together it was always going to be interesting," Kyneton coach Mark Adamson said.

"Probably the most pleasing aspect for us was we had 32 scoring shots, which indicated that during parts of the game we moved the ball well.

"The end result would have been a lot bigger in terms of the winning margin had we kicked straighter, but the fact we had that many shots on goal was a pleasing sign."

On a sour note for the Tigers, Michael Rainey suffered a hamstring injury that is likely to delay his start to the season.

• Golden Square over-ran Mooroopna to win by one goal at Colbinabbin.

"I was pretty happy with the first hit-out. We played three good quarters and the last one was exceptional when we kicked seven goals to one," Golden Square coach Nick Carter said.

"It was a good start by the boys... we got a fair bit out of it and a few things to work on that you don't see until you start playing games."

• Kangaroo Flat had a three-goal win over St Albans in a low-scoring encounter in wet and windy conditions at Geelong.

The Roos won 6.8 (44) to 4.2 (26).

"Being the first practice match, there were a few skill errors, but overall it was positive for us," Roos coach Jason Stevens said.

"And we got through injury free, which was very pleasing."

• Castlemaine was beaten by Echuca by six goals at Echuca. The Magpies were short on numbers, which forced coach Shane Robertson to pull on the boots.

"We were happy with the efforts of the boys today and I thought we were competitive with the squad we had," Robertson said.

"I had to play myself, which shows how short we were, but I thought the boys stood up against some very good opposition that was full strength."

• Eaglehawk snuck over the line by a couple of points against Barooga at Barooga.

"It was a fairly steady performance and we were able to get over the top of them in the end," Hawks coach Luke Monaghan said.

"We were slow out of the blocks; being a young side we took a bit of time to adjust to the intensity that was required, but once we got our game going we went alright."

• Strathfieldsaye's game against Keilor at Epsom-Huntly was called off at half-time because of the severe lightning.

Keilor was three goals up when the game ended.

"They are a well-drilled and physical side, so it was a good hit-out for us, but unfortunately, we had to call if off at half-time," Storm coach Darryl Wilson said.

• Reigning Eastern Football League premier Balwyn won the Shaun Bergin Memorial Cup match against an under-strength South Bendigo by 95 points, 16.18 (114) to 3.1 (19), at Epsom-Huntly Recreation Reserve.