Vic Country kicked five goals in the final term to run over the top of Vic Metro in the opening game of under-18 national football championships at Trevor Barker Oval on Sunday.
Both teams had the momentum for parts of the game, but Country was cleaner with the ball in the 14.5 (89) to 11.8 (74) win.
PICTURE GALLERY: U18 national championships
Metro coach David Flood said he would take a lot out of the game despite the loss.
“I’m happy with the game style,” he said.
“We had opportunities going inside 50. They were a bit cleaner with the ball.
“Everybody played their bit, but no-one stood out, which was the difference, with Country having some stars on the day.”
Country kicked the opening goal, but once the Metro players settled they applied a lot of pressure in their front half.
Calder Cannons Pete Wright kicked Metro’s first of the game and his side kicked another three for the quarter.
The second quarter started the way the first ended – with Metro controlling the play for the first goal of the term.
Towards the end of the quarter, Country scored three goals in five minutes to reduce the margin to three points going into the main break.
The second half began with Wright kicking his second goal for Metro.
Country started to take control of the game with cleaner disposal in the forward line, turning the nine-point deficit into a nine-point lead.
Metro hit back with the next goal before kicking two out-of-bounds on the full.
Rory Sheridan-Ferrie took two strong marks in the forward 50 to give the lead back to Metro, which took a seven-point lead into the final quarter.
The final term started with some good defensive work by Calder’s Matthew Goodyear, who earnt a free kick for a holding the ball decision.
His Cannons teammate, Paul A’Hern, finished off the good work to extend the lead to 13 points.
From there, Country took control of the game, capitalising on Metro errors in the midfield and defensive half.
Goodyear had 24 possessions for Metro and Western Jet Jayden Laverde had 22.
