The Fitzroy Stars rallied to pick up an opening round triumph in the Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 competition, defeating Laurimar by 24 points at Laurimar Reserve.
Trailing by seven points at the main break, the Stars produced an exhilarating seven-goal third term, eventually taking the lead at the 21-minute mark of the quarter and never losing it thereafter in a 15.5 (95) to 11.5 (71) triumph.
Picking up where he left off in 2024, Patrick Farrant was a class above and finished with seven majors, five of those coming in the second half. He would win almost every one-on-one battle and those that he didn’t mark, would see him turn into a mercurial presence at ground level, which is where he kicked many of his goals for the afternoon.
Allan Norris was impressive in the ruck, while captain Jai Burns and first time playing-coach Neville Jetta were important to their side’s first ever win over Laurimar in the NFNL.
The Power were led by Kaiden Arthur, who finished as his side’s best, and new recruit Stephen McCallum who played a terrific debut game.
The goals came thick and fast throughout the opening five minutes. Jake Francis booted the first of the afternoon for Laurimar, before Kyle Wheatley had an opportunistic snap close to goal which went through the big sticks to signal his first in Stars colours.
A Farrant set shot conversion moments later would make it a six-point lead for the visitors, which remained until quarter time.
The Power’s best patch for the game came in the first half of the second quarter in which they kicked three goals in six minutes to lead by 13 points. The third of the trio of goals coming after Patrick Fitzgerald saw himself unopposed in the ruck for a forward 50 stoppage, in which he grabbed the ball, and passed it off to Carter McCall who snapped truly running away from goal.
But the Stars would halt Laurimar’s momentum through Farrant who was starting to become a problem for the home side. He kicked his second at the 15-minute mark to reduce the deficit, before both sides exchanged majors again late to set the margin at seven points in the Power’s favour at half time.
Laurimar would have the dream start in the third term, with some great pressure and terrific build up play leading to a Campbell Walker mark and goal conversion five minutes in, extending his side’s advantage to 13.
The Fitzroy Stars would go up another gear however, as Allan Norris started to get on top in the ruck and Burns and Kain Proctor got to work in the midfield with their power running, the latter kicking a beautiful goal on the run to tie the scores at the 14-minute mark.
Jimmy Atkins’ side would be back in front momentarily after a piece of brilliance from Joel Lawson, but that would be short-lived as Farrant dominated inside forward 50. He kicked three of his team’s next five goals for the quarter to help the visitors build an important 18-point three quarter time advantage.
A game-high 24-point margin would be reached within a minute of the final term, after some excellent work in the contest by Norris helped set up Alex Williamson to stroll into the open goal and kick his third of the match.
Both sides would go goal-for-goal throughout the remainder of the game, with Laurimar not able to get any closer than three goals in their pursuit of a comeback. Farrant’s seventh goal would seal the match after he smothered the Laurimar kickout and would make no mistake from close range, giving his side the ideal start to season 2025.
