PORTLAND suffered a hefty defeat in their South West Victorian Football Association grand final rematch against Warrnambool Wolves at Friendly Societies Reserve on Sunday, ultimately going down 7-0.

The Panthers were solid for the majority of the contest, keeping the game deadlocked at nil-all until late in the first half, where a pair of errors led to two goals for the Wolves and a 2-0 half time deficit for the Panthers.

It was a similar story in the second half, where the Panthers played solid defence while also creating some opportunities of their own.

But, in a similar story to last week’s 5-1 loss to the Rangers, Portland once again fell away in the closing stages, giving up five late goals to end up on the wrong side of a lopsided final score.

Portland coach Stephen Von Tunk said it was a disappointing result for the group, and added it was probably reflective of the inexperience the side is still looking to work on.

“It’s not good enough for us to concede goals in this way, I think some of it does come down to our boys lacking some experience, but I’m confident they’ll be able to pick it up,” Von Tunk said.

“We started really well, early on I thought we were in for a cracker of a contest.

“Even when we conceded two late ones, at 2-0 down we were well and truly still in it.”

Von Tunk said that regardless of the scoreline, he felt his players were just a couple of improvements away from being in contention.

“I think a 3-0 scoreline would’ve been a fair reflection of the game… I don’t think we were too far away.

“It was a case of us having a few defensive errors and those can be fixed, and I think while we had our chances some miss hits proved costly on that end.”

Von Tunk added that perspective was needed on this result, emphasising that last year’s Panthers had suffered similar losses early in the season before going on to win the premiership.

“Last year we lost to this side 7-1 early on, before going to win the flag… it’s certainly not the end of the world,” he said.

The division one side now has a bye, which Von Tunk said comes at a good time as they look to reset with plenty of season still ahead of them.

“It’s good to get an early reset and use our trainings in the coming weeks to build some confidence in the group,” he said.

“We’ve got Port Fairy coming up, that will be a good test for us.”

Other results

In the division two match, the Wolves secured a 2-0 victory over Portland, despite strong play from the Panthers going unrewarded.

However, in the under-17 game, Portland emerged triumphant with a 2-1 scoreline, demonstrating their resilience and ability to capitalise on opportunities.

Additionally, in the under-14 encounter, Warrnambool emerged as winners against Portland, 6-0.

Lastly, in the under-12 match, the Portland team displayed their superiority, overpowering the Wolves with a convincing 5-1 victory.