All eyes were on Stephen Milne as the AFL alumni took to the field for a one-off appearance at Mathoura Recreation Reserve, representing the Cutters in their clash with Picola United in round one of Picola and District league football action.
There was a big turnout of spectators for the Easter Saturday match-up, with the stands filled and onlookers dotted around the fence line.
However, on the field things, didn’t go the way the home side would have wanted, as the Cutters fell to the Blues 9.11 (65) to 6.1 (37).
“It was very warm,” Milne said of the game.
“I think Picola played pretty well.
“They played the zone defence, so it was kind of hard to get through.
“There were some positive signs in the second half where our ball use was a bit better, and we (got) a bit of one-on-one footy, so positive signs for Mathoura for the rest of the year.”
The story of the game was United’s control of field position, routinely trapping the ball in and around the forward 50, with Mathoura only able to stage the occasional raid on the Blues’ goal.
However, the pressure wasn’t paying off early as United managed only minor scores at the beginning of the clash before Aron Burns gave the Cutters the lead with the first goal of the contest from a set shot.
The Blues regained the lead with a pair of majors of their own before Milne showed his AFL instincts in a smart piece of play.
After the whistle was blown on a throw-in, Milne dashed onto the ball, playing advantage and slotting a goal from about 30m while the opposition stood stunned.
It was Milne’s only major for the game.
“A bit of an advantage, and the umpires were good,” he said.
“Hopefully, could have got a couple more, but the guy I was playing on was very tight and (I got) a couple of holding the balls, a little bit old and slow now, but I enjoyed it.”
Milne’s major was the last scoring occasion for the Cutters in the first term as Picola continued to apply pressure, entering the interval up 3.4 (22) to 2.0 (12).
The Blues solidified their advantage in the second quarter, kicking four goals to one and establishing a stranglehold on the contest by the main break to lead 7.7 (49) to 3.0 (18).
Mathoura was taking advantage of the limited opportunities it had in the forward 50 with accurate goal-kicking.
The home side kicked two more goals in the third while remaining without a minor score to reduce the deficit, heading into the final change down 8.9 (57) to 5.0 (30).
It was a competitive but ultimately quiet final term for the scorers as both sides logged a single major and Picola United emerged victorious by 28 points.
Lachlan Collins and Cody Haub each kicked four goals to guide the Blues to an opening-round win.
“Tough day, tough conditions in the heat and that, but the boys fought on hard, and it was a good, hard, solid win for round one,” said Picola United Coach Rhys Woodland, who earned a debut victory in charge.
“We were extremely happy with our back six. They held us up all day, and we got a lot of running coming off there as well, so more than happy.
“Lukey Woolan did really well on (Milne); wore him like a glove all day.
“A good collective effort. I think the boys just worked really well as a unit and just kept putting in all day, so a good, hard-fought win by all.”
Mathoura co-coach Tim McCormick was pleased with elements of his side’s game but highlighted things to work on as well.
“Positives were that we actually ran the game out and didn’t just roll over,” he said.
“It very easily could have turned out to be a 15-goal loss had we not kept at it, so the pleasing part was we kept going all day, kept putting pressure on.
“We just gave them a quarter-and-a-half to two quarters start, so it was going to be hard to come back from that on a hot day, so more work on the track to go.
“(Our goal-kicking) probably kept us in the game a little bit but we just let them run off too easy.
“Out of that backline, they got the overlap and we just weren’t accountable enough early, which probably hurt us.
“Once they got that start, they were able to control it to a certain extent, so we put ourselves under pressure.”
McCormick praised Milne for his contributions on the field and around the group.
“(Milne) obviously created a bit of attention and drew a bit of extra attention from the opposition at times, but he was great for our group,” he said.
“He was great for having a chat before the game and at quarter-time breaks and things like that. Having someone with AFL experience in your team is invaluable, you can’t buy that.”
Milne said after the game that he really enjoyed his time in Mathoura.
“Love it up here,” he said.
“I’ve got some friends that live up here and a holiday house, so I’ve been up here a few times, so I enjoy it up here.
“It was very warm and there were a couple of thousand people out here, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.
“I’ll go in there now and have a couple of beers and relax.”