It took until the last 15 minutes, but Strathfieldsaye's general play dominance finally overpowered a valiant South Bendigo in round one of the BFNL.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The 13.18 (96) to 10.8 (68) victory for the Storm simultaneously should have been by more and yet was closer than appears, with the margin only at ten points close to midway through the final stanza.
It was at this critical juncture Malik Gordon stood tall.
The young star clunked a vital contested mark down the line to put the Storm into attack, and rarely, for Saturday, the Storm got their reward with Zach Charles kicking his first goal in his return game for the club.
The floodgates opened from there as the Storm nailed four more majors in quick succession to blow the margin wide-open before the Bloods kicked a couple in junk time.
As was the case out at Canterbury Park, it was a typical round one game strewn with errors, but that means little to Luke Freeman, who notched up his maiden win as Storm coach.
"It got messy at times and wreaked of a round one game," Freeman told the Bendigo Advertiser.
"I don't know what the stats were, but it seemed like they got most of their score from turnovers.
"They threw everything at us and played really well, especially in the second term.
"We blew some chances in that quarter while they were taking them, which kept them in the contest."
After conceding the first three of the day, the Bloods worked their way into the match, being down by six points at quarter time and leading by six at the main break.
The Storm kicked 0.7 (7) in the second term, missing numerous sitters.
It was through this period that the Bloods ball movement was at its best, going from end-to-end twice for goals with co-coach Steven Stroobants, the profiteer.
"I thought we competed hard, and I couldn't have asked for more with our attack at the contest but our ability to defend the ground wasn't great," Stroobants said.
"They could have put us away in the second quarter, but to our credit, we kept at it, and our defence held up.
"We think our back six is one of our stronger points as we have guys who are good one-on-one and use the footy pretty well.
"If we can just help them out between the arcs, it will go a long way toward preventing them from getting burnt on the way back."
The Storm's stoppage and territorial dominance began to reap dividends on the scoreboard in the third term as they nailed four goals to two.
Reigning Storm best and fairest Daniel Clohesy was superb at the coalface, dominating the contested footy.
"All our midfielders were outstanding," Freeman said.
"But Clohesy took the boys under his wing, and his second half was unbelievable.
"He was clean, his decision-making was great, and the leadership he displayed was immense."
The Storm midfielders spread from stoppage was one of the highlights of the day, and it allowed Lachlan Gill (two), Matt Harvey (one), and Riley Wilson (one) to hit the scoreboard.
"Our ability to defend stoppage wasn't at the level it needed to be," Stroobants said.
"Especially early on, I thought most of their scoring opportunities came from their midfielders working harder than ours."
When the Bloods gained some midfield ascendency during the first half, it was generally due to recruit Anthony Zimmerman.
Zimmerman looks to be an A-grade recruit for the Bloods and he will help ease the load on Brody Haddow.
"Having lost Nathan Horbury, it was an area we wanted to bring a quality player in, and Anthony has played some high-standard footy in the VAFA and VFL.
"He's moved up to the country and has fit in with the group really well."
Another recruit, Will Marks, was voted as the Blood's best.
The tall youngster from Birchip-Watchem will have an important role to play for the Bloods this season, given the recent departure of gun ruckman Macgregor Cameron.
"He competed hard and hates losing," Stroobants said.
"When he went into the ruck, he gave us something a bit different, so we might look to use that a bit more going forward."
