BUTE suffered its first loss of the Adelaide Plains Football League season on Saturday as Mallala excelled in the wintery conditions to win 9.14 (68) to 3.5 (23).
Magpie Brian Montgomery bagged three goals on the day to move into second-place in the league’s goal-kicking race, but it was teammate Dylan Vanzini who claimed best-on-ground honours.
Bute Football Club president Jarrad Cock called it a “reality check” and said he’s keen to see how the troops respond.
“Mallala certainly came out and put the pressure on right from the start,” he said.
“It shows us where we are a little bit – we were second to the ball, and while we are carrying some injuries, everyone probably is at the moment.
“Tim Sullivan had a good day in the ruck, but there weren’t many bright spots for us.”
Virginia cruised past Angle Vale 18.14 (122) to 8.4 (52) after responding to a slow start emphatically.
The Owls surprisingly went into quarter time up 26-14 with the breeze at its back, but the Rams answered back with an eight-goal second term to start pulling away.
Virginia coach Denis Eaton said it was disappointing to start in the fashion it did, but it was encouraging to see his side’s class prevail.
“They started well which has been a problem for us lately,” he said.
“We moved Anthony Bascombe into the ruck and Hayden Ingram to full back at quarter time to give them a different look and it worked well.
“Ronald Rankine relished the opportunity at full forward with the absence of Brendan Niklaus kicking six goals, and Brandon Rigney is a quality footballer with a bigger bag of tricks than David Copperfield.”
In the most predictable result of the round, Two Wells kept Hamley Bridge winless with a 17.15 (117) to 5.7 (37) drubbing.
James Gameau (five goals) and Caleb Edmead (four goals) did the majority of the damage on the scoreboard, but Michael Abdilla and Lachlan Franklin received plenty of plaudits from coach Matt Camplin.
Angus Judd kicked a pair for the Bombers, who were only down 14-23 at quarter time before conceding a 0-46 second term.