Round 1 of the Kowree Naracoorte-Tatiara Football League is in the books after the season started on Saturday.
The season is set to be one of the most even and hardest to win in history as every team has recruited well to challenge for the 2023 premiership.
The big match-up of round one was the clash of the 2022 grand finalists in Lucindale and Keith.
Both teams have recruited some handy players but also lost a couple who have moved on to different teams.
Saturday’s contest was much of the same as last year.
The first half was a tight affair as the Crows went into halftime ahead by only five points.
Keith opened up the game in the third quarter and never looked back as they ended up recording a strong 34-point victory.
Lewis Hender and Blake Read were strong in front of the goal with three goals each for the Crows.
Daniel Bibby, Seb Schreiber and Jack McAuley had great games to help get the Crows the four points.
Lucindale found it tough to find a consistent spread of goals to keep pace with the Crows during the game.
Josh Trembath, Josh Teakle and Riley Milne kicked two goals each in the loss.
Bradley Agnew, Riley Mcfarlane and Henry Tregoweth kept trying all game long for the Roos.
Mundulla withstood a second-half fightback from Padthaway to record a 21-point win to start the year.
The Tigers began strongly in the first half and had opened up the margin to 41 points by halftime.
The Lions though showed some pride by kicking seven goals to Mundulla’s three in the second half to bring the margin closer by the end of the game.
Padthaway got too far behind to really challenge the Tigers in the end.
Something they will look to fixing for this week’s game.
Harry Kuchel, Jake McGrice and Nick Mosey kicked two goals each for the winning Tigers.
Nick Mosey, Jake McGrice and Tom Gaden led the way with consistent play around the ground for Mundulla.
Will Rivers kicked four goals for the Lions as he battled hard in front of the goal.
Tarquin Brown chipped in with two of his own.
Jacob Fiebiger, Will Rivers and Tobin Cox were named the Lion’s best players.
Kingston led from start to finish against Penola as they recorded a thumping 108-point victory over the Eagles.
The Saints played a good brand of running the football and their kicking skills were right on point.
It was a good display for a round-one game where teams are usually a bit rusty.
The Eagles tried hard but the Saints’ depth was too much for them all game.
Todd Lockwood kicked six goals for the Saints as he started the season how he left it last year.
James Siviour and Jacob Fisher kicked four each as Kingston’s forward line was clicking right from the opening bounce.
William Watts, Jack Harding and James Siviour had plenty of the ball and were strong all game for the home side.
Penola struggled to find a consistent avenue towards their goal.
Josh Currie and Garret Ha tried their best and ended up with two goals each.
Jordan Galpin, Brock Egan and Jayden Eldridge tried hard for Penola all game long.
Border Districts won a close hard-fought contest against Bordertown by eight points.
The contest was neck and neck for the first three quarters with the margin being under a goal at each of the first three breaks of quarters.
The Eagles worked hard in the fourth quarter and were able to get their noses in front by the final siren.
A good start to the season for the visitors.
New Eagles recruit Dylan Schoenmakers kicked four goals for his new club.
Brodie Adams added three as well in the victory.
Carl Hausler, Isaac Hewson and Fraser Adams played well to be named the best players for the Eagles.
Tom Whittlesea tried to get the Roosters across the line as he kicked six goals.
Unfortunately for the Roosters team, they could not find any more multiple-goal kickers to help get the Roosters across the line.
Bryce Damin, Cam Dahlitz and Lachlan Murch were the Roosters’ best players.
Naracoorte produced a solid performance to get the points against Kybybolite on Sunday in their annual Anzac clash.
The Demons ran out winners by 42 points in a solid effort and a great way to start the season by recording a win over your arch-enemy.
Rory Taggert and Sam Willson kicked four goals each for the Demons to lead the scoring.
New recruit Zac Peake also chimed in with three goals of his own for the home side.
Josh Gregg, Dylan Albrecht and Sam Thomson were the Demons’ best players.
Billy Laurie was dangerous in front of the goal for Kybybolite with four goals and Tom Taheny tried to help with two to keep the game close.
Tom Woodard, Billy Laurie and William Shepherd were the Tigers’ best players.
