PORTLAND’ senior footballers have been left to continue searching for a full four-quarters of elite football after the final term of their match against Cobden brought them unstuck, with the Tigers eventually going down 15.10 (100) to 9.9 (63).

First quarters had been the bane of the Tigers’ existence so far this season, and the group was determined to not make it five out of six matches where they had given up a sizeable deficit by the first break.

And the script was certainly flipped on this occasion, with Portland racing to a 20-point lead by quarter time, as they dominated through the middle with the likes of Toby Jennings, Toby Oakley, Daniel Falcone and Connor Peters all playing key roles in that respect.

Cobden fought back in the second term, closing the margin to 14 points by the time the extended half time interval rolled around.

The Tigers continued to look dangerous up forward, with Jennings, Falcone and key forward Will Hunter all snagging multiple majors across the contest, but still the Bombers refused to go away.

The margin was brought to within single digits by three-quarter time, before Cobden ran over the top in the final term, kicking eight goals to one to steamroll over the top of Portland.

The result came in spite of the great resolve shown by Portland’s back six, most notably Jake Wilson and Harry Kerr who, along with Jennings, Falcone, Oakley and Hunter, all earned mentions in their side’s best.

Portland senior coach Jarrod Holt said after the game that the result came down to his side simply running out of steam towards the end.

“It was great for us to get a good start… maybe we consumed too much energy in that period, but against good sides you need to be able to tough it out in the last quarter,” Holt said.

“We definitely ran out of legs, they finished it out strong, but we do need to learn to tough it out a bit better than that.

“We were leading the game the whole way, up to six or seven minutes left in the final term, to then lose by six goals, it’s a little bit embarrassing to be honest… we were nowhere near it.

“It’s kind of how it goes, you address one thing and then something else pops up.”

Holt said the side’s lack of effective preseason training across the entire group was hurting them in this instance, and he said while addressing it wouldn’t help in the short term it was something which had to be acknowledged.

“When you come up against a side like that who is maybe stronger on paper, you can win those games by being able to run out the game better and having the fitness to do it,” Holt said.

“It would be easy for me to not bring it up… but it’s something which will hopefully help us for the long term.

“I think it’s a confidence thing as well… I feel like a lot of games of football play out how the teams expect them to.

“We have a young group that still needs to learn how to win games of football, once they start doing that they’ll be in a stronger position.”

Other results

In the match between Camperdown and Koroit, Camperdown came away with the win with a scoreline of 13.11 (89) to 7.8 (50).

The best players for Camperdown included Riley Arnold, Luke O'Neil, William Rowbottom, Hamish Sinnott, Charlie Lucas, and Cameron Spence, who made significant contributions to their team's success.

Meanwhile, Koroit faced a tough challenge but still had standout performers in Dallas Mooney, Jamie Lloyd, Liam Hoy, James Gow, Jack Block, and Mac Petersen.

The reigning premiers now sit seventh on the ladder with three wins from the first six rounds.

In a closely contested match between Terang-Mortlake Bloods and South Warrnambool, the Bloods earned a close win with a final score of 8.10 (58) to 6.8 (44) to inflict the South their first loss of the season.

The best players for Terang-Mortlake included Xavier Vickers, Alexander Moloney, Kane Johnstone, Gus Bourke, Joe Arundell, and Isaac Kenna.

South Warrnambool also had standout performers in Ollie Bridgewater, Sam Thompson, Patrick Anderson, Archie Stevens, Will White, and Daniel Nicholson.

The win leaves Terang Mortlake as the only undefeated team in the competition.

North Warrnambool Eagles came away with a gutsy 10.14 (74) to 7.5 (47) win over Port Fairy.

The best players for North Warrnambool included Jackson Grundy, Matthew Wines, Bailey Jenkinson, Reece Scoble, Adam Wines, and Duke Bermingham.

The Seagulls also had standout performers in Kaine Mercovich, Oliver Myers, Oscar Pollock, Jake Bartlett, George Swarbrick, and Joseph Forrest, despite falling short in the match.

In an intense match between Hamilton Kangaroos and Warrnambool, the Blues emerged victorious with a commanding scoreline of 18.11 (119) to 10.11 (71).

The best players for the Roos included Rory Gill, Cameron Pither, Darcy Russell, Cameron Whyte, Luke Barnes, and Jack Hickey, who showed resilience despite the loss.

Meanwhile, Mitchell Bidmade, Sam Cowling, Jye Turland, Luke Cody, Damien McCorkell, and Harry Ryan were recognised as the best players for the victors.

Reserves and under-18.5s

Portland’s reserves suffered a brutal loss at the hands of the runaway ladder leaders in Cobden, going down 24.18 (162) to 2.4 (16).

An eight goals to nil first term set the tone for the match, as while the Tigers were able to quell Cobden’s forays into attack at some stages, their dominance was never in doubt.

Zac Stuchbery, Sharn Robinson, Marcus England, Craig Samson, Will Oakley and Beau Skinner were Portland’s best.

It was a closer matchup in the under-18.5s, but nonetheless the Bombers were ultimately too strong, and the Tigers came away with a 9.4 (58) to 4.8 (32) defeat.

Kodi Jones, Noah Nicholls, Kaden Wilson, Kostya Vallance and Jake Tunstall were named in the Tigers’ best afield.