A SEASON that has been billed as a rebirth of Castlemaine has hit an early bump with the club’s worst loss in a senior BFNL game for at least 40 years against Eaglehawk on Saturday.
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The Magpies were embarrassed on their home ground at Camp Reserve by the rampant Hawks, who obliterated Castlemaine by 212 points – 36.16 (232) to 2.8 (20) – in a performance coach Derrick Filo labelled a “trainwreck”.
Bendigo Advertiser round-by-round records that date back to 1978 show Saturday’s debacle was the biggest loss the Magpies have suffered through that time.
“I know we copped some floggings last year, but I felt we had a good team in today… but we were just woeful and Eaglehawk was terrific and has certainly improved from what was already a good team from last season,” Filo said.
“A result like today obviously hurts, but it’s now all about how we respond and that’s going to be the big test.
“On paper we have a team that should be able to push Eaglehawk for three quarters or so, but perhaps we got a bit ahead of ourselves (after round one win over Maryborough) and they cashed in.
“They played really well and we just had one of those shockers… skill errors from good players, missed tackles, horrible decisions. After the first 20 minutes it was a trainwreck for us and we really do have to respond next week.”
That response from the Magpies will need to come against another of the BFNL’s big guns in Golden Square next Saturday night, again at home.
While it was a forgettable day for Castlemaine it was a ruthless and super-impressive performance from the Hawks that backed up their round one win over Strathfieldsaye.
Already 120 points up at three quarter-time, the Hawks finished with a burst of 15.2 to 0.0 in the final term to extend their advantage beyond 200 points.
“I was really happy with the output of all the boys and the consistent four-quarter effort,” Hawks’ coach Josh Bowe said.
“Sometimes it can be easy to drift a little in games like that, but we stuck with it for the entire game.”
The Hawks had 13 players hit the scoreboard, including Matt Gretgrix (six), Sean Williams (five), Shaun Knott (three), Riley Saunders (three), Gedd Hommelhoff (three), Dillon Williams (three) and Sam Harper (three), who all kicked more goals than Castlemaine did.
The hard-working Knott across half-forward was a strong marking target to be the Hawks’ best player, while Hommelhoff showed the Magpies how to be clean with the ball and recruit Jack Fallon has been quick to make an impression with his versatility at his new club.
The Hawks’ 212-point margin that propelled their percentage to 400 was their biggest win since they beat Kyneton by 214 in 2011.
Castlemaine’s two goals were kicked by two of their recruits in Jake O’Brien, who battled hard to stem the tide, and Tyler Gavralas.
Meanwhile, Castlemane has joined Maryborough this season in not fielding an under-18 football team.
