'Wasn't perfect' but coach says side will take confidence from another win

The Magpies downed the Seagulls 11.14 (80) to 9.10 (64) to register their second victory of the year in the round six Hampden league football clash at Gardens Oval.

In a hard-fought contest, Port Fairy started strongly with the first two majors of the game but trailed 22-14 at the first break.

The Magpies held an intimidating 23-point lead at halftime before the Seagulls found some momentum and narrowed the margin to just six points with less than 10 minutes gone in the final term.

They didn't get any closer though as the Magpies started hitting the scoreboard and held on for the four points.

Swayn admitted there were lapses in his side's performance but was pleased with how it responded.

"You can't just stop, it's that even at the minute, you got to concentrate (for the whole game)," he told The Standard.

"The pleasing thing was we just steadied when we had to in the last quarter because they were still coming really hard. A lot of things we can work on, it wasn't perfect by any stretch but they're hard to beat here."

Swayn said four-quarter consistency was an area his side needed to improve going forward.

Regardless, he noted the team's second consecutive win would be good for the players' confidence.

"There are no easy games," he said.

"South (Warrnambool) next week, we're going to play the yardstick now.

"Sometimes if you don't play real well and still get a win you take a positive out of that."

Swayn said midfield pairing Harry Sumner and Eric Guthrie, as well as Riley Arnold, were impressive in an all-round team performance.

Magpies teammates Cam Spence and Sam Gordon both snagged three goals each.

The versatile Matt Sully and defender Murray Staude were Port Fairy's best players.

There were some injury concerns in the physical affair, with Magpie Luke Kavanagh leaving the field in the third quarter with an ankle injury.

His teammate Angus Gordon and Seagull Murray Staude were involved in a heavy collision in the fourth quarter that saw Staude helped off the field with a suspected concussion. Gordon also came off the ground.

Port Fairy coach Dustin McCorkell said skill errors and concentration ultimately hurt his side.

"They were on top at certain stages, I think our boys did well to stay in the contest and almost give ourselves a chance to (win)," he said.

"But we probably just made too many little, simple errors with the ball which cost us and we've just got to get better at execution and concentration over four quarters."