South Warrnambool outmuscle Cobden in Hampden league opener

The Roosters kicked away with a barrage of goals in the final minutes of their Hampden league round one clash against Cobden to post a commanding 15.20 (110) to 8.8 (56) win.

But the Bombers, under the new mentorship of Dan Casey, put up a rousing third quarter response to make it a show at Cobden Recreation Reserve.

Slotting 4.7 to the Bombers' 2.2 in the opening term, the Roosters, who lost Liam Youl early to a hamstring injury, outclassed their opponents on their way to a 35-point lead by the main break.

Inaccuracy was the only blemish in otherwise dominant half.

"I thought we played well, and Cobden were really competitive so it was a great hit out," Battistello said.

"We're never going to be the finished product at this time of year, nor did we plan to with our preparation.

"To the boys' credit they got better with that (goalkicking) but I was more pleased with having reasonable good looks at goals. To kick 15.20 and have 35 shots on goal, we'll take that any day of the week."

The Bombers turned up the intensity in the third quarter, going almost goal for goal with the Roosters, with coach Casey "in awe" of how his team responded.

"South got momentum in that second quarter, and from our boys, you could see we lost that structure," he said.

"At half-time we spoke about how we'd swing momentum back our way, and I was really proud of how our midfielders and half forwards turned it around. I think we broke even or even won that third quarter."

Casey said his back six held up strong against South's tall forward line, while his forwards "carved through" and hit the scoreboard.

Casey praised Josh Worboys and Brad Gillingham's efforts in defence, as well as Joe Hutt on senior debut.

Battistello also praised the new faces in his line up, with recruits Jack Dye, Trent Williamson and Dylan Weir joining first-gamers in Jonah Maher and Max Irving.

Dye, who kicked three goals after crossing from Eaglehawk in the off-season, said there was plenty in South's attack to trouble any defence.

"There is a lot of tall boys up there who can have an impact," he said. "Dylan Weir, he came in, kicked a few, and big (Sam Kelly) he put them on his head and was marking them."

Battistello said Maher and Irving's senior debuts were reward for effort.

"They really contributed well, and someone's going to have to play pretty well in the under 18s or at 12pm to push them out," he said.

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