KEILOR’S faith in raw home-grown talent yielded rewards in swingman Mikka James’ 250th game.
The youngsters featured prominently as the Blues claimed their first win of the season by 51 points in a topsy-turvy encounter with Craigieburn in the Essendon District Football League Premier Division at Keilor Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
The Blues were in overdrive from the first bounce with six goals to nil in the opening term – an advantage they would keep until half-time.
“I thought we were terrific early,” Blues coach Mick McGuane told the Weekly.
“Our ball movement was fairly precise and, in terms of isolation, I thought [Jarrod] Garth and Mikka James were pretty important focal points for us.
This was no easy victory for the Blues. They saw their 40-point half-time lead whittled down to one kick in time-on of the third term.
A steadying goal from Josh Buckley gave the Blues a moment of respite.
The Blues showed tremendous courage to stave off the Eagles’ onslaught.
They stood their ground in the first five minutes of the last term before motoring away.
Garth underlined his status as one of the premier lead-up forwards in the league with seven goals.
“He’s had a great start to the year,” McGuane said.
Daniel Cooper put a smile on the face of his coach with a superb performance.
The half-back has been limited to just a handful of games over the past two seasons after a “horrific” knee injury.
“A year in the coaches box has got him seeing football a bit differently,” McGuane said.
“He took a big step today in terms of his mindset.”
McGuane was excited about the handful of youngsters.
“Our average age is just under 22.”
The Blues made the somewhat controversial decision to play Nick O’Kearney.
McGuane says it is not a decision that he would take if the 15 year old was not ready for the task. O’Kearney has vindicated the Blues’ decision with three strong showings.
“I’ve got no doubt he can make it all the way to the AFL,” McGuane said.
“He’s all class, uses the ball well and is a good decision maker.”
Relief ruckman James Barnes, the son of former Essendon and Geelong big man John, was handed a debut and was not afraid to mix it with Barry Brooks, an ex-AFL ruckman.
“His dad would’ve been tickled pink to see the way he played,” McGuane said.
James capped his 250th game with two goals.
EDFL SCOREBOARD:
Premier division: Keilor 19.13 (127) d Craigieburn 12.4 (76).
Division 1: Northern Saints 22.27 (159) d Hillside 16.9 (105), Jacana 1.4 (10) lt Taylors Lakes 34.21 (225), Keilor Park 10.9 (69) lt East Keilor 25.18 (168).
