By Justin Flynn
Two Good Friday clashes kicked off the BFNL for 2021 after COVID-19 caused the cancellation of the 2020 season.
Torquay 16.15.111 smashed Ocean Grove 7.5.47 by 64-points, while Newcomb 28.14.182 demolished Portarlington 8.6.54 by 128.
Andrew Steele bagged 10 goals for the Power and Joel Geue kicked six for the monster win.
At Spring Creek Reserve Logan Taylor booted two goals for Ocean Grove while Lucas Anderson was unstoppable with seven for the Tigers.
Ocean Grove coach Pete Davey took some positives from his inexperienced side’s loss to Torquay.
“We will never use inexperience as an excuse but the reality is that our group is on a very steep learning curve,” the Grubbers coach told the Ocean Grove Voice.
“I thought our pressure in the first half, particularly in that second quarter, was first class and exactly where we want it to be.
“I was really happy with the way our backline competed, especially given the amount of ball that was going in there during that first quarter.
“We were really shown up around stoppages but that was a result of an extremely inexperienced midfield competing against smart mids who have played together for a number of years.
“We gifted at least five goals to them, often on the back of a lost scoring opportunity to us, and that made the scoreboard look more lopsided than it probably should have.
“We can’t afford to give up easy goals to anybody, especially not sides of Torquay’s calibre.”
Reigning premiers Barwon Heads 19.13.127 beat Drysdale 10.9.69 while Geelong Amateur ousted Queenscliff 22.8.140 to 17.10.112 in a high-scoring shootout.
Anglesea 10.18-78 won a six-point thriller against a fast-finishing Modewarre 10.12.72.
The GDFL is set to kick off on Saturday with the majority of teams playing at 2pm, with one night game and another game scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
