THE Hamilton Kangaroos let a half time lead slip, losing to Port Fairy by 37 points on Sunday.

The Roos were the home team at Gardens Oval, and looked up for the contest early on, but a six goals to one third quarter saw the Seagulls grab the ascendancy and go on to win, 18.6 (114) to 11. 11 (77).

Hamilton was down a rotation for the second half, with Hamish Waldron injuring his hamstring before the main break, and with vice-captain, Rory Gill, missing the round seven clash through injury, it was a young Roos midfield for the rest of the game.

Hamish Cook got back to some of his best form, booting six goals for the Kangaroos, proving a headache for the Port Fairy defenders.

Roos coach, Brad Thomas said it was a disappointing game, but the team would still learn plenty from the day.

“I feel like every week so far we have been developing and going forward, it is not about scoreboard, but we just didn’t rock up in a lot of areas,” he said.

“The results weren’t there in what we were after, the contested ball, the ground balls and credit to Port Fairy, they came to play.

“That is the highest score that has been kicked against us all year.

“There is so much to learn out of the game though.”

Hamilton went into half time leading by four points, and with Levi Dare suiting up for the side, the team had plenty of chances to get first use of the ball from stoppage, with the ruckman amassing 91 hitouts for the game, including 22 to advantage.

“We had an extra 68 hitouts, our pressure was down and we leaked a lot that way,” Thomas said.

“When the game was up for grabs, we were getting outnumbered.

“We just need to learn from these situations.

“We just didn’t make the most of our opportunities in front of goal at times as well, but our efficiency was good, running at 54 per cent for our inside 50s.”

Jack English and Ethan Knight were among the Roos’ best.

Jason Rowan kicked seven goals for the Seagulls, supported by Matt Sully with four.

The Roos also lost in the reserves, with a goal in the final minutes of the contest giving Port Fairy the narrowest of wins, 8.5 (53) to 8.4 (52).

Harry Turnham and Jordy Anthony bagged two goals each for the Roos, with Hugh Douglas the team’s best.

The Under-18 contest saw the Roos win by 79 points, 13.10 (88) to 1.3 (9).

Zac Elliott kicked four goals for the blue and white, while Hunter Van Someren and Frank Gill kicked three goals each.

Netball

THE Hamilton Kangaroos have fallen short against the Seagulls in the Open netball clash on Sunday, losing by 26 goals.

Port Fairy’s attacking end made strong use of possession, putting up 18 goals in the first term, and went into the main break leading, 34-18.

With the Roos missing Emma Sommerville and Mimi Chun, the team was missing plenty of height, with Grace Cleaver spending much of the game in the defensive goal circle.

The second half saw the Seagulls continue to dominate, scoring 22 goals to win, 56-30.

Saskia Gould put up 19 goals for the Roos, supported by 11 from Clare Crawford, while Jessika Tobin Salzman shot 48 goals for the Seagulls.

Hamilton’s goal accuracy was down, missing regulation attempts throughout the contest, which would have narrowed the final margin.

Roos coach, Emma Sommerville said it was an uncharacteristic game from the team.

“I just said to the girls it is not the way we’ve been playing and not what we’ve been building towards,” she said.

“Previously I haven’t been too worried about the scoreboard, having myself and Mim (Mimi Chun) out of our defensive line really changes our positions a lot, so that definitely impacted us, but I said it is a clean slate now, wipe it and move on.

“Our (shooting) percentage was a long way down, so it is something that we need to work on.

“It is hard to come back if you lose your eye sometimes.”

Grace Cleaver, Maddox Ryan and Kellie Sommerville were named the Roos’ best, with Lexi Thomas also making her Open debut in Sunday’s loss.

The Roos had tight wins in Division 1 (35-34) and Division 2 (28-27), while it was much easier for the Division 3 team, winning 32-16.

Hamilton lost the 17-and-Under contest, 23-26, but dominated 15-and-Under (45-10), 15-and-Under Reserves, (35-13), 13-and-Under (42-2), and 13-and-Under Reserves (31-6).