For three quarters it looked like Greenvale would knock off Aberfeldie in the Essendon District Football League premier division’s opening round.
The Jets led by 12 points at quarter-time and had extended that to 22 points going into the final change.
Despite kicking 2.3 in the final term, the Jets were over-run by Aberfeldie, which kicked seven goals for a 16.13 (109) to 15.10 (100) win at Clifton Park.
Jets coach Shannon Grant, in his first match in charge, said he always expected Aberfeldie, a grand finalist last year, to come at them.
“In the end, we played well for three quarters and I’m pretty proud of that,” Grant said.
“They got hold of us in the last quarter and that’s when their better players stood up.
“We stopped working both ways and allowed their forwards too many opportunities.
“It’s a good lesson for the boys to learn – that they have to make sure they are playing the game out.”
Grant said experienced players such as Joseph Gazzo, Stephen Brewer, Daniel Campisano and Fabian Deluca were among the side’s best.
“It was good to have players from all three areas of the ground in the best,” he said. “We will regroup next week and be a much better side.”
Grant, a former VFL coach, said he hadn’t added too many new players to the team that finished fifth last year.
Nick Lower, Nicholas Maric, Addam Maric and Fabian Deluca, who have all had AFL or VFL experience, have joined.
“We have a decent amount of young kids coming through as well,” Grant said.
“It’s a good experience for them to have the likes of Lower, [Addam] Maric and Deluca in the squad.
“We have a lot of depth and it will be instrumental for us going forward.”
Grant said he’s enjoyed the move to the Jets.
“The players have really connected with what I want to do and they are prepared to put in the hard yards,” he said.
“We are pretty confident of making finals and they are hungry for success.”
In division 1, Craigieburn got the points in a thriller against Glenroy winning 14.9 (93) to 13.14 (92), while Westmeadows won a close one by beating Taylors Lakes 14.14 (98) to 13.9 (87). Tullamarine had the bye.
