COLAC Imperials had plenty of reasons to celebrate after their come-from-behind victory secured the team’s first win at Alvie in 17 years.

The 13.11 (89) to 8.6 (54) win was the result that second-year coach Craig Williams had hoped for, despite an early scare from the young Swans.

Alvie kicked away to an early 22-point lead, catching the Imps unprepared in the first term.

Recruits Jason Green, two goals, and Kyle Roberts helped the Cats plug away at the margin before they hit the lead in the third term and failed to look back.

“It was good to start the season with a win, the club hadn’t won out there since ’95,” Williams said.

“I think it’s still going to be hard to always win out there, everyone’s sort of written them off but they’ll be competitive,” he said.

The Imps kicked nine second-half goals to one to steal the 35-point win.

Assistant coach Andrew Scott led the way with three goals in the team that had 10 individual goalkickers.

“Alvie was winning a lot more of the footy early, but we gradually started getting the ascendancy back, opened the game up and started running and getting the ball forward,” Williams said.

“I was confident we could get back in, but I’ll admit I was a little worried it could have gotten away too far – if they got out to a seven or eight goal lead it could have been too much,” he said.

Swans defender Andre Delorenzo was best afield for the home team, while young players Mitch Williamson and Tyler Murnane also showed promising signs for the season ahead.

The report of Imperials’ Laurie Clarke in the third quarter was the only blemish for the Cats in the clash.

Clarke accepted a one-match ban after arguing with an umpire.

“It is disappointing because we don’t want to lose a guy,” Williams said.

“But I know Laurie really well, we’ll sit down and talk with him and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

Off-target Forrests upsets reigning premier

INACCURACY in front of goals almost cost Forrest its hard-fought win against reigning premier Birregurra.

Forrest had dominated the inside-50 count in the Birregurra Recreation Reserve clash, 40-20, but the Saints managed to hold the lead heading into the final term.

Lions recruit Paul Smith slotted the final goal late in the fourth quarter to land his team a memorable 10.12 (72) to 9.6 (60) win, despite his team missing chances to secure the game earlier.

New Forrest coach Justin Bliss said defeating last year’s champions was a dream start for his team.

“It was a good contested game, there were a few sore bodies to come out of it,” he said.

“We were kicking ourselves out of it, we had opportunities to level the scores but kept kicking points when we needed goals but we stuck to our structures and our defence held up well against some of their key targets.”

Birregurra had no answers for Lions Dean and Sean Calcedo who earned best-on-ground honours for dominating the clearances.

Birregurra coach Paul Lynch said disposal inefficiency was his team’s biggest concern.

“There wasn’t much in it all day, I just think they had a bit more class around the footy than us and that was probably the difference in the end,” Lynch said.

Accurate Bombers back with a bang

AN accurate Irrewarra-Beeac has made amends for its capitulation at Apollo Bay with a clinical win against Otway Districts.

The Bombers kicked a pinpoint 18 goals from 22 scoring shots to post their first win of the season and condemn the Demons to back-to-back losses.

Young forward Joel Menzies booted his second bag of four goals while recruit Jordan Smith slotted three in the 18.4 (112) to 9.9 (63) win at Irrewarra Recreation Reserve.

Bombers coach Khan Beckett said he was pleased with the way his side responded after a dismal previous weekend on the coast.

“I had a chat to them and told them where we went wrong, and where we’ve gone wrong through pre-season, and about commitment and dedication,” he said.

Ruckman Tom Miller was best on ground, outjumping the taller Wade Bowyer at times, while Troy Keating and Brad Gore were super in the midfield.

Defender Shane Kent was the Demons’ best and Stewart Sutherland led the scoring with three goals.

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