Trafalgar, the newest team to join the EDFL, has wasted no time in getting on the board in 2021 at the expense of rivals Yarragon in a comfortable 9.17.71 to 1.5.11 win.

Yarragon headed into the game without captain Mitch Jolly, who will be sidelined for the year after suffering a knee injury at training, testing their depth before round one.

Running out in fierce winds, the contest was even throughout the first quarter as both sides battled for ascendancy, before a strong grab from Matthew Swensen opened the scoring for the Bloods.

Tackling was the order of the day and when Connor Noonan laid a bone crunching one, it set up a late shot for Darcy Brock in the first term, but he couldn’t capitalise, something that would plague the Trafalgar side throughout the afternoon.

Yarragon fought hard in the second quarter, laying tackles and keeping Trafalgar on their heels. However, it was the Bloods who began to play the conditions best through coach Chris Kyriacou who was a general across the halfback line, switching play and starting the rebound for his side.

The Bloods had all the play, but couldn’t put the ball through the big sticks, at one stage seeing themselves at 1.9, as Yarragon were kept in the game.

Halftime saw Kyriacou ask his troops to put the foot down, and they did as the rain came tumbling in. Dylan Farrell was starting to become an issue for the Panthers, dominating the ruck around the ground and with some accurate kicking and a fortunate 50m penalty on the siren, they led by 28 points going into the final change.

The final quarter belonged to Trafalgar as the rivalry began to heat up with several physical contests bringing the crowd to life. It was Trafalgar who made the most of it however, kicking four final quarter goals to push the lead out to 60 points when the final siren blew.