The Blues mustered a whopping 24 behinds in their ultimately comfortable 18.24 (132) to 4.7 (31) win against Russells Creek at Mack Oval.

Rick Spokes booted six goals to take his season tally to 20 while recruit John Paulin was best-afield, repeatedly exerting his influence at stoppages.

Blues coach Aidan Cole said the inaccuracy — they kicked 8.15 against Dennington in round one and lost by seven points — had become an issue.

“Whoever it was, forwards or midfielders, I don’t know if they put themselves under a little bit of pressure when they were kicking for goal or what,” he said.

“Before half-time I got the umpires to pump the footy up a bit more. It was a bit flat, we got that done. But that’s no excuse really. We didn’t have the radar on.”

Cole said his men emerged despondent with their first-half display. They led by 19 points at the long break but piled on 13 goals to one thereafter.

“The boys are pretty disappointed about their effort in the first half. We let them dictate the game, we didn’t get our game plan rolling,” he said.

“We came out after half-time and the boys turned it around and played some good, hard and quick footy. We broke them open from there.

“We only really played two quarters for the day ... I’m happy with the win but it goes to show we have a lot of things to work on.”

He lauded the performance of Paulin, who crossed from South Rovers in the summer and has become a key figure in the Blues’ midfield.

“He would’ve had three-quarters of our clearances for the day. He was pretty handy. He reads the ball well and he’s got a big motor on him,” he said.

Elsewhere, Mark Murphy rocketed to the top of the Warrnambool and District league goalkicking with a 10-goal haul for South Rovers against Deakin University.

Murphy took his season tally to 22 in the Lions’ 20.19 (139) to 7.2 (44) win at the Pond. Young guns Laughlin Cowell and Brad Bushell were also in their best.

“Something that helped Murph a little bit today was he wasn’t our key target. We don’t look to go through Murph a lot,” South Rovers coach Nathan Isles said.

“We’ve got Harry Ponting, Laughie Cowell, Nathan Krepp — especially Nathan Krepp, he started to show his colours today — they’re the guys we’re trying to go through.

“Murph will slip into holes where they’re not. The thing about Murph is he creates something out of nothing. Those opportunities that shouldn’t be there, he’ll take those.”

Isles was far from happy with the Lions’ “scratchy” display, despite the lopsided margin. The Sharks’ four last-quarter goals were a source of frustration.

“I spoke after the game. It’s about playing the way we want to play regardless of what the scoreboard is telling us. That’s the point I’m trying to drum in,” he said.

“Whether we’re down by 10 goals or up by 10 goals, I don’t want that to change the way we play our footy. It’s about keeping them grounded and level-headed.”

And a Justin Wallace-inspired Dennington posted the biggest win of the weekend, belting East Warrnambool by 123 points at Dennington Recreation Reserve.

The former Terang Mortlake big man booted eight goals in the 23.16 (154) to 4.7 (31) triumph, set up with a 10.6 to 0.0 first term.

Chris Keilar and Sam Curtis kicked five goals each while Grayden Russell and Brandon Edwards were also among the dominant figures.