Craigieburn played well in patches but was again unable to produce four full quarters in Essendon District Football League’s division 1 on Saturday.
Eagles coach Peter Bugden said the 65-point defeat against Hillside was another disappointing loss in a tough start to the season.
Craigieburn lost the away clash, 11.12 (78) to 21.17 (143).
“We’re starting to take some steps forward, but it’s pretty tough when you aren’t winning matches.
“We’ve had difficulties in understanding the game plan and structures we have in place. We have to work hard at all elements of the game.”
Bugden said he was optimistic the Eagles would win more matches than they had in previous seasons.
“The team is starting to play well in patches, normally for a couple of quarters like [Saturday] where we lost by 10 goals, but in the second half we were outscored by only 18 points.
“Youth is a contributing factor, but we also have 12 to 14 new players in the team who are learning how we play.”
Bugden said there had been positives for the team this year, but “senior football is about getting the wins”.
In other division 1 matches, West- meadows came back from a 21-point deficit at quarter-time to defeat Hadfield 15.7 (97) to 11.10 (76).
After kicking only one goal in the first term, the Tigers kicked eight to one in the second quarter. Hadfield reduced the margin to six points at the final change, but the Tigers were too strong. Mitchell Church was best on ground, kicking five goals.
Despite kicking 1.7 in the final term, Greenvale held on to defeat Essendon Doutta Stars by three points in the premier division, 13.12 (90) to 13.9 (87).
The Jets came out firing and took a 21-point lead into half-time.
The Stars reduced the margin and continued to apply scoreboard pressure in the final term, but Greenvale held on.
In division 2, Roxburgh Park defeated Jacana by 64 points, 16.18 (114) to 8.2 (50).
