The Sydney Swans VFL were valiant in defeat, going down to the reigning premiers, the Casey Demons, in Round 2 of the competition.
CASEY DEMONS 4.2 8.3 10.5 13.11 (89)
SYDNEY SWANS 3.2 4.6 4.9 6.11 (47)
The Swans weathered the storm against the experienced home side early, to lead by a goal late in the first quarter before the Demons kicked 11 of the next 12 to leave the Swans in their wake.
The Swans never faltered with their effort in the contest, with two late majors adding a bit of respectability to the score.
Swans VFL Head Coach Damian Truslove said that the side didn't make the most of their opportunities on the scoreboard, however took plenty of postiive takeaways from the game.
"Statistically we were quite strong. We won clearances, contested possession, inside 50s and tackles and we focused in on our systems a lot more this week, which was better than last week so there were a fair few positives to come out of the game," Truslove said.
"Unfortunately we just couldn't finish it off in the forward 50 and score when we had opportunities.
"We are a very young team. These guys haven't played together much at all, our average age is around 21 years old so we are very young and still learning the system and the Swans way, so that is going to take some time but the second half of the season is going to be very exciting for us."
Despite winning the inside-50 count 57-48, Sydney were astray with the boot, kicking 1.8 from the 20-minute mark of the first quarter to the same point of the last, despite the efforts of Angus Sheldrick (34, five marks, nine clearances, six entries) and captain and former Demon Will Collis (27, 12 marks).
Nick Shipley (27, nine clearances), Corey Warner (22, eight marks, six entries), Lachie Rankin (20, eight marks, five tackles) tried hard, while Balwyn goal ace Charlie Haley kicked three in his second game at the level.
"Angus Sheldrick got his hands on the ball a lot and was a standout and it was a really good performance by Lachie McAndrew in the ruck. It was probably his best performance from the club, he won hitouts and we were convincingly winning stoppages throughout the day so he was heavily involved with that plus he took a few really heavily contested marks. Corey Warner also kept working hard and did quite well." Truslove said of some of the standout performers.
"From a first year point of view, Jaiden Magor also showed some the class that he had."
"Charlie Hayley is an exciting small forward who plays with a lot of aggression and is very dangerous around the big sticks. He has been a really high level metropolitan footballer in Victoria for a long time and he has fitted in well with our system and our team and will only get better as the year goes on."
The Swans VFL side will have the bye in Round three however will host North Melbourne at Tramway Oval on Saturday, April 15 in Round 4.
