PERENNIAL cellar-dwellers East Warrnambool and Deakin University both suffered heavy round-two losses at the weekend.
While the Bombers showed some promise in their 54-point loss to the Timboon Demons in Timboon, Deakin struggled at home against Old Collegians, suffering a 93-point thrashing.
The Bombers went down 8.13 (61) to the Demons' 17.13 (155), but it wasn't all bad news.
East had an impressive third quarter in which it showed a glimmer of hope, managing to out-score Timboon five goals to three.
But the glimmer quickly faded when Timboon ran away with the game in the fourth, adding four goals to its haul while only allowing East to register two behinds.
East Warrnambool coach Paul Butters said it was the second quarter that cost his side the game.
"In the second quarter they had about 20 uncontested marks, and after stoppages they just seemed to spread, and we couldn't get a handle on them," Butters said.
"They used their experience and ran away with it ."
Butters said in the third quarter the tables turned and the Bombers managed to get a handle on the game, albeit a little too late.
"We managed to cover them well in the third, we had some really good passages of play," he said.
Despite the loss, Butters remained positive, saying he was proud of the way his team played.
"It was a really positive game. A couple of the younger guys stepped up from the reserves and we had five or six other guys who missed out," he said.
"There is now a lot of pressure to keep performing well, but hopefully we can get some wins on the board."
It was a different story for Deakin University, which failed to make any impact on the Warriors, going down in a 93-point thumping 4.8 (32) to 19.11 (125).
The Warriors dominated the game from the beginning and led at every change.
They sealed the win in the second half, booting seven goals in the third quarter and another seven in the fourth, while the Sharks could only manage to add three behinds.
The Sharks face another tough ask this weekend, taking on Kolora-Noorat at Noorat, while East will face off against Panmure at Panmure.
jwoolley@standard.fairfax.com
